Love It or Hate It, Black Friday is Here

Black Friday is upon us and retailers are expecting upwards of 130 million turkey-stuffed Americans to turn out for the annual rite of passage that, in recent years, has taken on the fervor of a religious revivalist meeting.

The day after Thanksgiving is the epicenter of the all-important holiday shopping season, and the crowds on Black Friday are seen as a gauge for the coming weeks, which make up as much as a quarter of annual retail shopping. Holiday retail sales decreased almost four percent in 2008 and remained static last year, but the National Retail Federation is predicting an uptick of 2.3 percent this year—a total of almost $450 billion.

A quick stroll through the area's malls and big-box stores reveals dozens of retailers gearing up for the day by offering mind-boggling deals on everything from HDTVs to diamond jewelry and baby clothing.

At the Galleria in White Plains, which opens at 5 a.m., shoppers will find blowout prices on popular video game titles, jewelry and electronics while signs outside of clothing stores advertise 15, 25, or 40 percent off this, that and a Santa hat.

Most of the stores at the Palisades Center in Nyack will open at 7 a.m., though some of the mall's anchor stores will open at 5 or 6 in the morning.

Some big-box stores, including Target and Wal-Mart, are offering the usual door-busting sales but also are hoping to draw in crowds with unique offers, such as discounted electronics packaged with $50 store gift cards.

Many local shoppers revel in the mayhem and find a rush in trying to be the first through a store's doors and clamoring for the best deals, many of which are sold out just as the first rays of sun begin to warm the asphalt in packed parking lots.

"It's great. I've never slept out on the sidewalk or anything, but me and my sisters go early in the morning every year," said Tania Jimenez of White Plains, adding that she usually spends 25 percent of her Black Friday budget on herself and the rest on gifts for friends and family.

Her youngest sister, she said, works on figuring out the trip for weeks by collecting store circulars and drawing up plans, like an NFL coach writing plays for his team.

"She'll do 'plan A,' and then if there's too much traffic or everything is sold out, there's 'plan B'," Jimenez said.

Her husband, Raul, shook his head.

"The day after Thanksgiving I've got that food hangover and I'm off work, so all I want to do is sleep, not fight over a parking spot or an X Box," he said.

The rise of online shopping over the last decade has given less-spirited consumers like Raul Jimenez a new—and far less chaotic—forum for doing their holiday shopping. Online giant Amazon raised the stakes this year by turning Black Friday into a week-long frenzy, with some deals lasting for mere minutes.

Yonkers resident Priya Patel, 29, said she was drawn to the spectacle in her college years, but has grown increasingly weary of Black Friday.

"I really don't like seeing people get so crazy about shopping," she said. "The best things about the holidays are family, the decorations and the weather. The presents are fun, but it's not worth that much trouble."

She said the last straw came in 2008, when a Wal-Mart employee on Long Island was trampled to death by shoppers who busted down doors a few minutes before the store was scheduled to open. People who witnessed the tragedy told reporters that the crowd was so focused on the shopping frenzy that paramedics who arrived to help the man also were trampled.

On the same day, two men shot and killed each other at a crowded Toys 'R' Us near Los Angeles. The shooting was personal and not shopping-related, but the story made national headlines as stories surfaced of Black Friday shoppers dodging the gunmen's bullets.

In 2006, police in Virginia used pepper spray to disburse an angry crowd waiting to get their hands on Sony's Playstation 3 video game console at a local Circuit City. 

Area residents looking for a calmer Black Friday experience may want to hit the local businesses that line Westchester and Rockland's main streets. But all of the deals on Web sites and at the area's mega-retailers put local shops at a huge disadvantage, as they lack the marketing clout to draw in hordes of customers and often don't have the resources to open a store early or close it late.

Further, retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. can purchase thousands of a particular item, which decreases the wholesale cost and allows them to sell, say, a laptop for far below the normal price.

Most local merchants interviewed for this article said they are offering little more than the usual sales.

"I don't participate in Black Friday because we're a small business and we're run very differently from a large corporation," said Gaynor Scott, owner of clothing boutique Boo Girls in Katonah. "My business is about customer service."

Scott added that, despite opting out of once-in-a-lifetime sales, her store and other Main Street shops offer personal touches that can't be found at a big-box store.

"People will come to local small businesses because we know your children and your friends, we can help you pick out gifts and wrap them, and you're not worrying about parking and crowds."

Bill Homer, the owner of East Coast Surf, Skate & Snow in Larchmont, said he's optimistic that area shoppers will check in to local shops before hitting the franchise retailers.

"In Larchmont people like to shop locally and they've been very supportive of us in our first year," he said, adding that the store is offering 20 percent off its fall merchandise and has marked down new surfboards and skateboards.

Holiday shoppers looking for more risque stocking-stuffers are expected to flock to Romantic Depot, which has stores in Elmsford and West Nyack. Manager Chris Ciaccia said the store does its most robust business around Valentine's Day, but is offering up to 70 percent off some of its most popular items this weekend.

"For us, Black Friday isn't really a door-buster; people aren't coming in here looking for plasma-screen TVs," Ciaccia said of the adult novelties store, adding that shoppers are drawn more to the Palisades Center, which is across the street from the Romantic Depot in West Nyack, and to malls in Westchester.

Wherever you go to kick off your holiday shopping and celebrate the quintessentially American experience, you'll want to bring comfortable shoes, a warm coat and multiple credit cards. Helmets, bullet-proof vests and gas masks are optional.