Sonoma County shoppers get a head start on Black Friday crowds

Forget Black Friday. The holiday shopping season was in full effect on Thursday as hordes of shoppers throughout Sonoma County went in search for bargains and deals, joining with others who treated Thanksgiving as any other typical retail day.

It was evident at the Kmart on Cleveland Avenue in Santa Rosa, which opened up at 6 a.m. Thursday and will remain open until midnight Friday. More than 50 customers were at the store’s dawn opening, including two die-hard shoppers that had been waiting for hours, said Diana Adams, store manager.

During the 42-hour marathon session, Kmart will feature three different “doorbusters” sales, including $5 toasters and can openers and large-screen televisions as cheap as $180. Many came into the store after ordering their purchases online, and up to a third of the shoppers will likely use Kmart’s layaway plan, Adams said.

“It has been a phenomenal day,” she said. “I had one lady who stopped, and she had tears in her eyes and she said, ‘Thank you for being here for us.”

At Kohl’s in Santa Rosa, Joshua Ogle and his friend, Gregg Bowman of Guerneville, were able to buy two 32-inch LED high-definition televisions that were 50 percent off, at $100. Ogle said he was buying the TVs for his nieces who were moving back to California from Hawaii.

The two were done with their shopping within eight minutes of getting into Kohl’s, which opened at 6 p.m. They only had to wait in line for 20 minutes. “In and out,” Bowman joked about the ease of the purchase.

Other shoppers were looking more for convenience as opposed to big-ticket items. Kmart shopper Andrew Martinez, who lives in southern California and was visiting local relatives needed to buy a bigger pan to cook his sauteed green beans with bacon for Thanksgiving dinner.

Alan and Heather Pravel of Santa Rosa came to Kmart to purchase extra Christmas lights for their house, which they would put up later on Thursday night.

While they appreciated the ease of being able to immediately buy their Christmas lights, they also acknowledged the plight of the workers that were away from their families. Heather Pravel worked in retail for 10 years. “I used to dread coming in on Black Friday at five in the morning,” she said. “I was so thankful for that one day when my entire staff was off and no one got to come in.”

“It’s tough” said Alan Pravel, who previously worked as a waiter, which required holiday hours. “I’m very grateful to anybody who comes in and works, as I’m sure they all have places they would rather be,” Alan Pravel said.

Most of the shops at Santa Rosa Plaza and Coddingtown Mall were open from 6 p.m. Thursday to 1 a.m. Friday. They are scheduled to reopen at 6 a.m. Friday through 10 p.m.

Last year, Santa Rosa Plaza was open throughout the night from Thanksgiving through Black Friday, but customer traffic dramatically slowed during the overnight hours, said Kim Hall, director of marketing and business development for Simon Properties, which owns the mall.

“Our Black Friday traffic was really slow the next morning,” Hall said. “Most people aren’t going to stay out all night shopping.”

The National Retail Federation predicts that apparel, toys and video games will be the popular gift items this year. Locally, 50 percent of consumers are expected to shop on Friday, according to Simon Properties.

The consumer spending on Thursday was carried out against a burgeoning backlash against the retail frenzy that previously began the day after Thanksgiving.

On Twitter, the hashtag #savethanksgiving was trending with supporters lauding stores such as Costco, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Petco that were closed for the holiday.

Locally, Mary’s Pizza Shack on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa informed potential customers that it was closed “so that our crew members can celebrate the holiday with their families.” But down the street, Peet’s Coffee & Tea was open.

Sanjit Sengupta, professor of marketing at San Francisco State University, said that he hasn’t seen any evidence the Thanksgiving promotions and earlier store openings have had much positive effect on fourth-quarter earnings for retailers.

“I think this is motivated by some very short-term considerations on the part of the retailers. I do think it will backfire,” Sengupta said.

The biggest impact is likely on employee morale, especially on those who have to work early or late, Sengupta said. “They probably are not getting the better employees to volunteer for the (holiday) shifts...and likely will not have the best service,” he said.

Online petitions were created to persuade Kmart corporate brass to show more flexibility for their workers if employees wanted to have time off during Thanksgiving.

Adams, who came into work at 3:30 a.m. Thursday and would likely leave around 11 p.m., said not all of her employees at the Santa Rosa store were working during the 42-hour sale.

“Some of them really wanted it off for family commitments. We met that request,” she said. “I would say the majority of the associates would work some time during that 42-hour window.”

Labor groups across the nation are using the plight of workers during the holiday as a central element for their protest at 1,600 Wal-Mart locations on Black Friday, calling for a $15 minimum wage for Wal-Mart workers, better guarantees for full-time work, and greater protections for its female workforce in pay and promotions. Locally, the group North Bay Jobs with Justice, the North Bay Labor Council, Unite Here Local 2850 and the Sonoma County chapter of the National Organization for Women were set to protest outside of the Wal-Mart in Rohnert Park at 1 p.m Friday.

Marty Bennett, a spokesman for the local coalition, said the protesters are using the working conditions at the nation’s largest retailer to help in their campaign against expansion of Wal-Mart’s Rohnert Park location, which the City Council is expected to decide at its Jan. 13 meeting.

“I think this is a huge issue. Now not only the schedule is unpredictable for these workers...when the stores are open on Thanksgiving Day, it really plays havoc with family time,” Bennett said.

Local independent stores were mostly closed on Thursday. Some were expected to take part on Small Business Saturday, an effort to shop at local non-chain stores.

Julie Kawahara, owner of Kindred Fair Trade Handcrafts in downtown Santa Rosa, said that it’s already tough to compete with the big chains and it was no use for her to open up on Thursday. Instead, she focuses on building customer support with excellent service, providing a pleasant customer experience by playing world music and burning scented candles, and working within the community to promote the “go local” movement. She will stay open until 8 p.m. Friday to try and capture some of the crowd coming to see the lighting of the Christmas tree in downtown Santa Rosa.

“We are trying to bring people in a family-oriented community way. We are espousing our values rather than espousing commercialism,” Kawahara said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.