Nov. 30—Local businesses reported strong sales on Black Friday and expect the momentum to continue through Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, projecting a lucrative end to the sales quarter and their most profitable period of the year.
Martin's Family Clothing on Beltline Road was bustling Friday with customers looking through clothes racks and filling checkout lines. Store manager Charles Christopher said from the time they opened until noon, they had more than 250 customers.
"We gave out 250 coupons and ran out," Christopher said. "It's better (than last Black Friday)."
Christopher said he is looking forward to sales to continue through Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend where some retailers will offer online special promotions, discounts and sales.
Launched in 2005 by the National Retail Federation, Cyber Monday is the second biggest shopping day and the biggest day for online sales, according to Investopedia.
"Monday will be really busy," Christopher said. "We do a lot on Amazon and so we'll pull inventory from the store to fill Amazon orders, and we'll do flash sales on Facebook and Instagram, where we have items that we want to clear out and we'll run them for $20 or something."
The Willingham Family was shopping for clothes at Martin's and said the store is on their list to visit every Black Friday, next to Academy Sports + Outdoors and Kohl's. The family had plans to visit Tractor Supply after they left Martin's.
"We prefer to shop in-store for clothes and online for everything else," said Courtney Willingham.
Willingham said she participates in Cyber Monday shopping if there are any additional items she needs after Black Friday, such as gifts for her children or family friends.
"You don't have to fight the crowd and you don't have to go anywhere," said Haley Boteler of the benefits of shopping online.
Zion Shreve, store manager of Electronics Express, said his sales were up 20% compared to last November.
"Black Friday deals will still be going on Monday," Shreve said. "A lot of the big TV's are on sale; 98 inches are free install and its crazy how cheap TVs are right now. We also have great deals on soundbars and PlayStation 5's are $400 right now."
Crystal Brown, CEO and president of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, said online shopping has been increasing nationwide over the years, and she expects local businesses to benefit from that trend on Monday.