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I have noticed now that I am retired, or just getting old, that I do not shop the way I did when I was younger and part of a larger family. I remember being a new mom and getting excited about Christmas shopping for my daughters. Christmas was not all that great for me when I was growing up, since my father passed away on December 23rd when I was seven years old. One of the things that I promised myself when I had a family was that I would change the mood of Christmas to be more celebratory than melancholy.

If your family celebrates the holidays with gift giving, you may have a date in your head when you start your shopping. I remember the “Wish Book” from Sears Roebuck that would come in the mail—what a smart marketing idea! I also collected green and yellow stamps at our local grocery store all year to build the “Christmas Fund” for those special purchases. Local stores offered layaway plans to help purchase early and pay off over time. I got my first credit card at Sears in my 20s, and I think it may have had a credit limit of $200, which seemed like a lot. It was not uncommon to just have a store credit that a cashier could look up and have you sign your name. Life was simpler when you had fewer ways to spend more than you made.

Black Friday

In the old days, the Christmas shopping season started the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday. It has been around as long as I can remember. I always wondered if it started because of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, or maybe it was the Miracle on 34th Street. One story claims that it originated in the craziness of crowds in Philadelphia for the Army-Navy football game, and that a large local department store thought it would be great to have a special sale and called it “Big Friday.” In my research, it seems to go back at least to the 1950s, and it really peaked during the 1980s, with most retail stores getting in on the action.  For me at that time, it was a chance to get some special gifts at a great price—if you lined up at the store early in the wee hours for a chance of a bargain on whatever item was popular that year. I know on the right coast, it was a pretty big marketing tool to get customers into the stores and help them go from red to black on their ledger sheets, as their fiscal year was ending in a month.

Cyber Monday

We all know that holiday shopping now starts so much earlier, with products and decorations popping up in stores as early as September. And more Days after T-Day were conceived to continue the opportunity for holiday sales. Cyber Monday began in 2005, perhaps with our very own local business, Amazon. At that time, consumers were just learning the art of buying online and found they could bypass paying sales tax if orders were shipped from another state. State and local government tax folks put a stop to that, since it was hurting the bottom line of tax revenue. But now I think more money is spent online on Cyber Monday than in person on Black Friday. Amazon has also leaned into Black Friday big, starting weeks in advance. Lots of brick-and-mortar stores have gotten in on the online sales as well to reach their customer base.

Small Business Saturday

As online spending grew, it put a hit on small retail on “Main Street USA.” In 2010, American Express had the great marketing idea of helping small businesses (and also helping themselves) with a new Day after T-Day known as Small Business Saturday. I was actually involved in promoting this in those early days, as I was president of our local small business group in Glens Falls, New York. American Express was sending out awesome free swag to us to market the day, and also to market AmEx. This was another big push to put pressure on residents to not forget the small local businesses that were struggling, not just against the large department stores but also the growing online shopping experience. Small Business Saturday highlighted not just local retail stores, but also restaurants and other small businesses, such as my small boutique real estate office that had to compete with national real estate chains.

The Local Angle

My impression is that these “days” are not used as a marketing tool as much here as it is in the cities and towns on the right coast. But since I am new to Wallingford, I decided to go and ask a few retailers about their plans for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. The Wallingford Center, which I have heard was quite the place for merchants when it opened in 1983, after being converted from the former Interlake Public School, has changed in recent years, and there are only a small handful of retail establishments left. Kim Tassin, who has taken over as the owner of Yazdi after being the store manager for years, knows how hard it is for small retail shops right now. She is up for leaning into a historic sale day and a day that celebrates small businesses. Pauline Emerson Hill, manager at Aditi Studio, a yoga and wellness center recently profiled in Wallyhood, is always looking for ways to get feet from the street to check out her place, so she plans to also tag on to those established days with a special. Tweedy and Popp has nothing planned, but shared that Ace Hardware, which they are a part of, does it up big on those days for online sales. Cascadia Pharmacy, which is new at the Center, has a different approach: they do not lean into commercialized opportunities, but focus on slowing down, being grateful, and trying to meet their customers in the moment year-round, with great customer service and select merchandise. I can attest to this since it is the place I go for prescriptions.

I also spoke to Hansen’s Florist, which plans on offering a free rose with a bouquet and a 10% discount on deliveries. Jeff Lindstrom, who has opened one of our newest small businesses this year, Stone’s Throw Coffee & Market, is open to it all and plans to offer some specials for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. At The Sock Monster, owner Kelly Tremaine usually sees more shoppers later in the holiday season, as people shop last-minute for stocking stuffers. Instead of focusing on Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, she plans to celebrate the whole holiday shopping season, offering cookies and other treats during weekends in December.

I did ask at a couple of other places that felt it was not necessary to offer Black Friday or Small Business Saturday specials, since their business is good and they do their own thing. I love living in an area with so many locally owned small businesses and not corporate-owned. I would love to hear about what others are doing for Black Friday in our comment section.

Giving Tuesday

Now, the most recent Day after Thanksgiving marketing moment was started in 2012, and that is called Giving Tuesday. This reminds folks that the holiday season is not just about buying things, but that we should not forget all the non-profit organizations out there that could use more monetary donations as the year comes to a close. Giving Tuesday was started as a United Nations project in New York City and was quickly adopted by local community non-profits. In my first career, working for many non-profits, we did so, sending that end-of-the-year letter to remind our community that their donations were appreciated and tax-deductible.

Locally, I found out that FamilyWorks has seen its Giving Tuesday donations grow over the last five years and relies on it to help serve hungry families in our area. Rachel Coller, Executive Director of the Wallingford Community Senior Center, shared that Giving Tuesday is important to their budget. They are so grateful to everyone who donates to help them continue to serve such a special population of seniors in our area, with not just needed programs that get folks out, but also a wonderful lunch every day. Having such a dynamic center that tackles loneliness with community is worthy of our donations. Assistance League, which funds fantastic services and programs for students in the Seattle school system with its outstanding thrift shop, also depends on the generosity of folks on Giving Tuesday. Historic Wallingford will use their Giving Tuesday donations to create a new program about the indigenous people who were in Wallingford before the settlers from the east came. I would say out of all the Days after Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday is the one our community organizations have leaned into the most.

What’s Your Take?

We all have our own feelings about the commercial aspect of the holidays, and some of us yearn for simpler times. My small family has decided to give experiences rather than things for our holiday gifts. I was giving to my local non-profits even before 2012, and will continue that on my own schedule, not necessarily on a special day. We all must shop and eat out in our neighborhood stores, restaurants, and markets if we want them to be here on our “Main Street,” and that includes museums and theatres, as well as sports, arts, and music venues. It is our duty, just as we thank our military service members for their service, to also thank small business owners for taking a chance and being there for us. Even as they struggle to remove graffiti from their buildings and try to keep folks from stealing their inventory, they need to sell their wares and services to take care of their families. We can thank them with a kind word and by visiting their establishments and letting them know we appreciate their courage and their grit. That is what a real community does for each other, and it is nice to do this year-round and not just at the holidays. I watch way too many Hallmark movies, but the part of the story I always love most is seeing how a community comes together to help the folks who may need it. We can have that special moment as well.