Sonoma County retailers see smaller Black Friday crowds amid early and extended sales

The shoppers outside of the Kohl’s in Santa Rosa Friday morning were up early to seek deals on holiday pajamas and winter gear. But the line was short.

In Cotati, a similarly small group waited for the doors to open to fill their carts with live poinsettias and discounted holiday decorations — lights, trees and yard blowups.

Outside the Santa Rosa Target, typically one of the busiest Black Friday retailers, only about 25 people were in line at the 7 a.m. opening time to snag deals on electronics, appliances and Lego sets.

The days of camping outside big box stores after Thanksgiving to nab the best deals appeared to be a thing of the past Friday in Sonoma County.

As American households struggle to keep pace with soaring prices for essentials like food, gas and housing, the in-person rush on Black Friday sales was more of a trickle early Friday, retailers reported.

For some stores, it grew to a stream later in the day.

That’s when Jen Saunders and her family were shopping at Santa Rosa Plaza in downtown.

While she normally does her shopping online because of its greater stock, speed and convenience, Saunders said her teenage daughters were now old enough to experience Black Friday in person and so she took them with her this year.

“I made (my daughters) try stuff on and then I take some pictures of everything they like and I’ll buy them tonight,” she said.

This year’s contrast with the frenzied business of Black Fridays past comes as many retailers respond to shifting consumer preferences by starting their holiday sales early and extending them beyond the Thanksgiving weekend.

Data from the National Retail Federation showed that while Black Friday continues to be the most popular shopping day of the Thanksgiving weekend, more consumers are timing their buying sprees earlier.

“While consumers continue to save the bulk of their holiday shopping for later in November and December, some of that spending has shifted into October,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said in a statement.

“This year, 18% of holiday shoppers have completed at least half of their holiday shopping. While this is on par with last year, it is up from only 11% a decade ago.”

Jason Moorhouse, owner of Nostalgia Alley in Petaluma and said the day had been going well for sales of used and pre-owned video games and consoles.

Nostalgia Alley doesn’t typically cut its prices for the holidays. But when they do, Moorhouse said, it is a big deal.

“Everybody’s been super appreciative and it’s been great so far,” he said.

While early holiday shopping may be the headline trend this year, some economic signs pointed to many Americans holding out for better bargains. Retailers responded this week with more attractive online deals after offering mostly lackluster discounts earlier in the season, according to data from Salesforce, which tracks online sales.

The average discount rate in the U.S. across all categories online was 31% on Thanksgiving, up from 27% the previous year, according to Salesforce data. The steepest discounts were in home appliances, general apparel, makeup and luxury handbags.

Liz Mintonye and her teenage son Alex were shopping in Santa Rosa for a present for Alex’s girlfriend. Liz said they do more of their shopping online because of COVID and flu concerns — but also because she was tired of waking up early to get to stores.

“We haven’t gone out in a few years,” she said.

“(The economy) is affecting peoples’ decisions on where they shop and it’s making online a lot more accessible,” Alex Mintonye said. “People want that easiness instead of having to deal with traffic and large crowds of people.”

Liz Mintonye also added that she prefers to shop at small businesses, and if she can’t find what she’s looking for there, will “tough it out” at other, large retailers.

“I’m the kind of shopper that looks for unique gifts and so places like Railroad Square, Fourth Street and these little shops are where you find the coolest gifts,” she said.

Moorhouse, the Nostalgia Alley owner, said it’s been hard to compare this year’s Black Friday activity to past years because of COVID and the souring economy but he said the store was seeing good business on the day.

He said he extended the Black Friday sale to last through the weekend so that people who work or couldn’t make it to the store could come and take part as well.

“A lot of our customers work on Fridays or Sundays and come in on one of the three days so we figured why not?” he said. “I’m happy with that and hopefully things keep going through Christmas.”

Clothing boutique Ooh La Luxe was also among the local retailers that extended their sales to tap into the shift in holiday shopping.

Maritza Gomez, manager at the boutique’s Santa Rosa location, and said there were a few people outside waiting for the store to open. They were handed gift cards for being the first shoppers in.

Because inventory from online sales on the previous night is different from the inventory in store, many shoppers came in person to see what else they could find, she added.

“We’ve had a decent Friday sale, so far so good,” she said. “I haven’t been at this location in the past Black Fridays but I know that one of my coworkers said it has been super busy as well.”

Autum Clodfelter, an employee at children’s clothing store Cupcake in Santa Rosa, said the day started out like a normal Friday, with business increasing into the afternoon.

“Usually around this time, people are looking for Christmas outfits,” she said. “It has picked up a little bit and we’ve had a lot more people come in.”

Jean Elliot, a co-owner of the Rohnert Park hobby store Fundemonium said the day started off slow and but steadily picked up steam.

“Usually, our biggest day of the year is a Saturday or Sunday before Christmas,” she said. “We’re hoping our Black Friday sale items will be gone by the end of the weekend and people will be coming in to buy great gifts for their families.”

This story includes reporting from the Associated Press.

Sara Edwards is the small business and consumer reporter for The Press Democrat. You can reach her at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat.com. Follow her on Twitter @sedwards380.