While Black Friday usually comes with visions of long lines and customers driven by desperation fighting each other for discount TVs, some campus-area stores experienced less than anticipated sales.
“It was pretty calm in there,” said Claire Meeks, a fourth-year in anthropology, after shopping at Target in the Lennox Town Center at 777 Kinnear Road just before noon on Friday.
Black Friday is a shopping trip the day after Thanksgiving that for many marks the start of the Christmas season. The day is noted for lower prices on desirable products and extended store hours that have shoppers out and spending money before sunrise.
Pete Bucher, a fourth-year in environmental policy, agreed. Bucher said he was only there buying groceries and expected it to be a bit crazier.
Business at Urban Outfitters, located at 1782 North High Street, was “a little weaker than we expected,” said Justin Ryan, women’s accessories manager.
Ryan said this was partially due to the large number of students that left campus for Thanksgiving.
Ryan said he thought more students went home for the holiday because they had been away from home since August because classes started earlier this year.
“I think we saw a difference in traffic because of that,” he said.
Meeks said she also went to stores farther from campus that were busier.
“I went to Macy’s at midnight and there was a bit of a line,” she said. “I went to Kohl’s, and Kohl’s was crazy.”
Meeks said the large crowds prevented her from buying items at certain stores.
“I didn’t get anything at Kohl’s because I didn’t want to wait in line to check out,” she said.
Despite slow sales early on Friday, the Ohio State football game against Michigan possibly contributed to higher sales later in the afternoon on Friday and on Saturday, said Ashley Strausbaugh, store manager for Pitaya, a women’s clothing store located at 1618 North High Street.
People coming into Columbus for football games always boost business, she said, and others agreed.
“All of the games bring in additional business because of more people roaming around but especially the Michigan game,” said Ian Craig, sales associate at Urban Outfitters.
Urban Outfitters offered 50 percent off all sale items and brought out additional merchandise on Friday. Pitaya offered 30 percent off all sale items.