Black Friday Preview

If ever there was a year for pausing holiday traditions, this year could be the frontrunner.

With everything from Easter services going virtual to the decision not to hold the Fourth of July fireworks show at City Beach to the cancellation of this year’s Holiday Light Ceremony — all because of the COVID-19 pandemic — 2020 has brought a (fingers crossed) temporary end to near-and-dear traditions.

One such tradition that will look vastly different this year today's Black Friday, usually the busiest shopping day of the year. The crowds that typically gather for post-Thanksgiving dinner shopping stampedes faced mostly empty parking lots, as many stores chose to close Thanksgiving day.

"We know this has been a trying year, and our associates have stepped up," said John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart. "We hope they will enjoy a special Thanksgiving Day at home with their loved ones."

Black Friday is typically the bread and butter for electronics stores, but Jon Olson, the manager of the Coeur d’Alene Best Buy, said the company’s priorities are different this year.

“This year, we have social distancing dots set up all throughout the building and all throughout outside the building every 6 feet,” Olson said. “Our biggest objective is to make sure everyone can stay safe and make sure everyone can safely get the products they want for their families this year.”

Part of that strategy, not just in Best Buy but with most every chain retailer, includes stretching out Black Friday deals. Retailers began Black Friday pricing as early as September, promoting early details in preparation for a holiday season derailed by a pandemic.

“Our completely new approach to Black Friday is giving guests flexibility to safely get the best holiday deals on their own terms,” said Christina Hennington, chief merchandising officer for Target. “Guests are taking advantage of our safe, contactless options — including shopping in stores or online using our same-day services — to get great ‘Black Friday Now’ deals on the season’s hottest toys, electronics, apparel and more.”

“We actually started doing Black Friday pricing about the last week in October,” Olson added. “Everything you can buy in the store is everything you can buy online. We’re trying as hard as we can to get the lines down, keep the stores more empty, which is completely reversed from past years. We like to stack them high and watch them fly, but this year, we’re encouraging curbside pick-up. We’re encouraging social distancing.”

That encouragement also includes signage for shoppers waiting in line outside to scan a QR code and continue their shopping experience online, a phenomenon that's gaining ground with the year’s biggest shopping day arriving.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Olson, a 10-year veteran of Best Buy, admitted.

But Black Friday is still a shopper’s delight, even if the coronavirus has impacted supply and demand. Olson said heavy inventory and dramatic price drops have made televisions huge sellers this holiday season, and that America’s response to COVID-19 — through a decrease in manufacturing and a rise in home schooling and home business — have curtailed the market on laptops.

And it wouldn’t be Black Friday without an impossible-to-get gift.

“Gaming systems would be huge,” Olson said, “had Sony and Microsoft made enough of them. The only way you’re going to get (a PlayStation 5 or Xbox X Series) this year is to order them online and cross your fingers.”