Local stores prepare for a busy Black Friday

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — With Black Friday around the corner, local stores are already making preparations for a busy season.

Store owners say they’ve seen a major increase in foot traffic over the past few months, and they hope it carries over to Friday.

“We open our doors at 6 am,” said My Sister’s Cottage owner Britteny Bellinger. “And so we will be here a good deal before hand making final preparations.”

The pandemic put a stop to shopping ’til you drop last year, and left many local shops hanging by a thread. That’s why many local stores look forward to the increase in shopping sprees later this week.

“We think it will be bigger than last year because since the pandemic, everything’s kind of lightened up. So we’ve been seeing a lot more traffic and everything,” said Style Me Boutique’s Whitney Anderson.

My Sister’s Cottage opened its doors in Wilmington last October, and says they’ve gotten calls about their sales for weeks. Bellinger said they’re expecting such a big crowd, they have to change their entire floorplan.

“All of these tables will have to be moved to the side to bring out new apparel, staging and stuff like that,” she said.

Not every store will offer major deals this Friday, but Bike Cycles is still expecting a big crowd after getting a new bike shipment. Bike salesman Jackson Moore said the bike shortage isn’t putting on the brakes anytime soon.

“Oh yeah, absolutely. There’s time it was very difficult to get bikes. And even the waitlist can be around a year if you’re trying to get a new bike,” Moore explained.

And with the shipping crisis making it difficult to ship bikes and their parts, Moore said the said the shop is getting ready for a big crowd Friday morning.

“We get calls all the time for people worried about their bike to see if they’re going to get it before Christmas or if they’re going to be able to get it in springtime. So, our guess is as good as the shippers to see what’s going to happen.”

And as the shipping crisis pushes many to buy local, Anderson hopes Black Friday will mean more money coming back to the community.

“I mean, the whole rage right now is shop local, shop local, shop local. It will be amazing for local shops around here in Wilmington. ”