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Downtown businesses report strong turnout on Black Friday weekend

By Ethan Sandweiss

Posted November 28, 2022

EllieMae boutique

Downtown businesses like EllieMae's Boutique saw an increase in traffic on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. (Courtesy of EllieMae's Boutique)

The Friday after Thanksgiving is America’s busiest shopping day of the year. Black Friday is usually associated with online retail and big box stores, but local businesses in downtown Bloomington also reported a strong turnout. 

While many shops refrained from the sort of deep-discount sales that characterize Black Friday, some said that Friday night’s “Canopy of Lights” ceremony brought more customers downtown to take advantage of extended hours. 

Terra Hall, manager at EllieMae’s boutique, said the ceremony was a boon for her store. 

“We had a lot of people in the store prior to the lighting ceremony. And they were just kind of waiting for that to happen, trying to come in and get out of the cold,” Hall said. “And after the lighting ceremony was finished, we just got rushed. And it was great.” 

Read more: Indiana’s labor market still 'astonishingly healthy' despite warning signs in new employment data

A manager at By Hand Gallery also said that their store saw a “great increase in foot traffic” during the lighting. 

Sales may have also been helped by free parking downtown during the holiday weekend, as well as Small Business Saturday -- a national shopping initiative to encourage local consumption. 

Margaret Taylor, owner of the Book Corner, said Friday moved at a stiff pace, but that’s not unusual this time of year. 

“Every day is busy,” Taylor laughed. “It’s not certainly our busiest, but it’s certainly busy.” 

According to Adobe Analytics, online sales hit a record $9.12 billion this year despite inflation concerns. Still, the National Retail Federation estimates that brick and mortar sales accounted for around twice that amount of spending. 

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