Black day for retailers

By Nate Delesline III

Published: November 29, 2008

Darkness and chilly temperatures didn’t stop hundreds of people from lining up at stores all over Culpeper on Friday for early-morning sales and door-buster deals.

Bundled against the cold, more than 100 people had arrived at Belk by 5 a.m. Many clutched cups of coffee and some were already laden with bags from other stores.

As the crowd shuffled in, store manager Melissa Nuckles was at the door to greet them all, handing out gift cards to the first 250 people. With sales flyers in hand, some headed straight to a particular section, while others browsed at a leisurely pace.

“It’s not bad at all,” Nuckles said, taking a break as the last few people in line walked through the door. About 22 employees were on duty, which Nuckles said is about four times as many people as normal. An 18-year employee of Belk and manager for eight years, Nuckles said this year was the second year the store offered the gift card promotion.

Dubbed “Black Friday” because the day marks a season of profits or being “in the black” instead of being in the red, the Friday after Thanksgiving usually ranks as one of the busiest shopping days of the year, along with the Saturday before Christmas, according to retail industry experts. And all over town, concerns about the economic cash and credit crunch seemed to temporarily disappear, replaced by brightly lit storefronts and packed parking lots in the predawn hours.

Across the highway at Culpeper’s Wal-Mart Supercenter, where the sales began at 5 a.m., the parking lot was so full that some customers parked next door at Dairy Queen and walked over to Wal-Mart. At the curb, Chris and Aaron Kamel were loading a large flat-screen television into their SUV.

Nearby, two other customers were preparing to load the same exact item into their cars.

Next door to Wal-Mart, Judy Donald of Culpeper said she was in search of one thing as she headed into Kohl’s.

“Sales!” she exclaimed with a big smile.

Further down Bus. 29 at Target, the line to get in stretched nearly the entire length of the shopping center, almost down to Staples on the opposite end in advance of that store’s 6 a.m. opening. Mark Emmott of Culpeper, the first person in line there, said he woke up early in search of games and electronics.

“There’s good deals if you’re first,” he said as Target employees ducked around the line and in the building through a side door. Emmott said he’s been a regular Black Friday shopper for about six years.

Danielle Weaver of Woodbridge was also among those at the head of the Target line. In town to see family, she said she was much more excited about shopping in Culpeper than in northern Virginia.

“We don’t go anywhere near the malls,” up there she said. Weaver said she was also in search of a few electronic things — an Xbox 360 video game system and a high-tech vacuum cleaner, as a housewarming present for a family member, to name a few of the items she was there to purchase.

Although she’s worked in retail for nearly two decades, Belk’s Nuckles admitted that some years, she’s been compelled to work all day long.

Despite that, she said she still loves shopping and is only distraught because of a lack of time to do it herself.

“You’ve got to love what you do,” Nuckles said as she handed another gift card to a customer.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or . .