CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A family and community development agent with the WVU Extension Service in Fayette County and Nicholas County won’t be out with holiday shoppers looking for deals on Black Friday.
“I am an excellent internet shopper,” said Lauren Weatherford. “I’ve found some really good deals that way.”
Her avoidance of shopping crowds dates back to the “before times,” prior to the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but her online shopping skills are serving her well at a time when health officials continue to urge people to stay away from others to limit coronavirus spread.
Some of Weatherford’s family members, like many West Virginians, though, have in-person shopping plans beginning Friday and continue through the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend.
“They go out early in the morning or, sometimes, do the strategic thing when they go at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. when the big crowds have gone,” Weatherford said.
This year, Black Friday specials started long before Black Friday.
“We’ve had some retailers kick off Black Friday shopping events back in October where customers were able to go online and snatch up great deals and then pick them up at the local store,” said Bridget Lambert, president of the West Virginia Retailers Association.
It was one of the earliest starts she could remember partially designed to spread out shoppers during a year that has tested store operators.
In the pandemic, “We expect Black Friday to look a lot like it has in previous years in that great customer deals will be available. However, retailers are still operating under the same set of guidelines that we’ve been operating under since Day One of this pandemic,” Lambert said.
Those guidelines included limits on store occupancy, requirements for social distancing and mandated mask usage.
Curbside and delivery options have been expanded.
Many retailers including Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, Kohl’s and Best Buy opted to close stores on Thanksgiving Day.
Some of those stores had plans to open as early as 5 a.m. Friday.
“I think consumer confidence is there,” Lambert said.
“I think we’ll see people out shopping (on Black Friday) but it won’t be at the level it has been previously and I think our retailers will be working very hard to provide a safe environment for customers to shop in.”
Earlier this week, the National Retail Federation released its delayed retail forecast for the 2020 Holiday Season, defined as the period between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31.
Compared with last year, retail sales nationally were projected to increase by between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent.
But Weatherford said not everyone would be spending more.
She said the pandemic has added to economic disparities within some family and friend groups.
“There are some who have maintained their jobs and even spent less money this year by not going on vacation, not going out to eat, those kinds of things, so they may have a little bit more money,” Weatherford said.
“But those who have been hit with job losses or impacted negatively by COVID-19 in one way or another could really have difficulty this year meeting those kind of Christmas expectations.”
Good budgeting was her advice along with making purchases early.
This year, she said, could be the year to cut costs by switching to homemade gifts, Secret Santa gift exchanges, gag gifts or other alternatives with spending limits.
“These are things too that you can do without being in the physical presence of each other. You can mail them or send them along, drop them off at people’s doors and then get on the phone or the computer and share those stories,” Weatherford said.
She also encouraged shopping locally.
In general, Weatherford said she saw some worries hanging over this holiday season.
“I think people are very concerned. I think people are very frustrated. I think that there are a lot of families who either have financial concerns or are wary that they need to be careful this year about what they spend,” she said.
“2020 has been full of so much uncertainty that nobody’s quite sure what 2021 will bring.”