By the numbers
$655 billion: Estimated holiday spending in the U.S. this year.
$22 billion: Estimated holiday spending in Ohio.
137 million: Estimated number of people planning to shop this weekend.
Source: National Retail Federation
The line outside the JC Penney store at the Mall at Fairfield Commons was huge before the store opened on Thanksgiving Day.
The store’s general manager, Mike Wages, was holding the door. He seemed impressed.
“You never know what to expect,” he said. “I think being one of the first retailers to open today certainly helps.”
Other stores reported brisk business locally, and holiday sales nationwide are expected to exceed $655 billion this year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
For the most part, retailers remained open on Thanksgiving this year, although some big names — including Barnes & Noble, Staples, hhgregg, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillard’s — were closed, urging customers and employees to spend time with family.
In 2015, nearly 30 million people shopped on Thanksgiving — an increase from 2014 but down from the 45 million who shopped on the holiday in 2013.
Black Friday will still be the busiest shopping day of the season. A survey from the NRF found that 74 percent of consumers will venture out today.
Long lines
More than 200 employees were on the clock at JC Penney on Thursday for the start of an intense shopping weekend that requires weeks of preparation.
Wright State University student Manu Manudalapu was the first in line, arriving at 1 p.m. to buy gifts for his family in India. He will travel home next month.
“We come here a lot,” he said. “Last year, the line was not like this.”
Sara Church, a resident of Riverside, and her family of seven waited behind Manudalapu. Church shivered, saying she didn’t expect so many people in line.
“We wanted to wait in our warm car. I’ve never gone out on Thanksgiving before,” she said. “But I need a new coat. The zipper is broke.”
Later in the day, Julie Grigsby, from Troy, stood at the front of the line at the nearby Toys R Us, which opened at 5 p.m. She arrived at 2:30 to make sure she was the first in line.
The coveted item she was ready to snag? The Cozmo, a popular robot toy for children.
Grigsby said this year seemed quieter than past Thanksgiving outings.
“In my experience, it actually seems like there’s less people in line than in the past,” she said.
Just 15 minutes after Grigsby got through the doors, she had paid for the Cozmo robot. The item, normally priced at $179, was marked down to $149.
“It was my grandson’s number one gift on his list,” she said. “You’re only 8 years old once.”
Luke Earnest, 17, was working his first Black Friday in retail for Toys R Us. He immediately began helping customers in the back of Toys R Us. Earnest and dozens of other workers will pull long hours in the coming days.
“When I pulled up in the parking lot and I saw that huge line, I was just so nervous,” Earnest said. “I said to myself, I’ll just take some deep breaths and it’ll all be good.”
Online option
While shoppers said they love the in-store Black Friday experience, it hasn’t stopped them from purchasing gifts online.
“I’ve already done some of that earlier today,” said Melissa Cleary, a resident of Clayton.
There is an estimated 10 percent increase in non-store sales this year.
In 2015, about 151 million shoppers were in stores and online over the Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend. Of those shoppers, about 41 million — 46 percent — said they shopped online on Thanksgiving Day.
Sarah Rice, a resident of Enon, said she’s also done both.
“We’ve been scoping online for a couple weeks,” Rice said. “I love online shopping. You can’t go wrong with Amazon.”
At the Best Buy near the Dayton Mall, Reggie George or Moraine was the first in line around lunchtime. He was interested shopping for televisions and electronics, specifically a 4K TV.
“I’m just keeping warm … definitely make sure I have plenty of fluids and food and try to keep things going,” George said.
Anthony Scholes, of Centerville, was the third person in line. He was on the lookout for a 60-inch television as well as Christmas gifts for others. He arrived at 8 a.m.
“You save a lot of money. I don’t really do anything for Thanksgiving so this is better than sitting at home and doing nothing,” he said.
TVs in demand
Twin 55-inch TVs poked out of Jason Fryman’s shopping cart Thanksgiving morning. He was in a long line with dozens of customers at the Meijer in Kettering.
Jodi Fryman, his wife, explained the wait was the price of admission for big savings of about half off starting at 6 a.m.
“We’ve got two adult boys,” she said. “It’s what they wanted for Christmas.”
Hundreds of shoppers at the store marked the start of the holiday retail shopping season early, looking for deals on shoes, clothes and toys. The store quickly sold out 200 large-screen TVs that were on sale, said Mike Burkhart, store director.
“They look like shark fins going through the store today,” he said. “It’s kind of cool.”
FitBits, PlayStation 4 and Xbox controllers were hot sellers, too.
Molly Unverferth, 36, filled her cart with two-for-one bargains on shoes and even better deals on yoga pants.
“I’ve been coming to this Meijer for Thanksgiving morning for probably the last seven or eight years,” she said. “Usually I come up here with a friend at 4 a.m., except I didn’t do that this year.”
This year, she practiced just-in-time shopping. She and her 10-year-old son arrived at 6, when the sales kicked in.
Later Thursday, Eric Larson, the general manager at Kohl’s located at 2850 Centre Drive in Fairborn, greeted customers walking into the store.
He said the store hired 195 people for the holiday season, and it ranks as one of the top Kohl’s locations in the nation for product volume sold time of the year.
“Hopefully, we’ll do that again this year,” he said.
Larson said opening the doors early has made lines smaller than when the store offered only Black Friday deals.
“It’s busy, but we just don’t have the lines that wrap around the store twice,” he said. “It’s more spread out.”
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