Nov. 13, 2023

It’s still two weeks before Thanksgiving dinner will be served, but the crowd at Lewis Drug looks more like Black Friday.

An annual promotion offering women 20 percent off storewide clearly has worked.

“It’s approaching Black Friday numbers,” CEO Mark Griffin said. “It’s big. They come in groups from the office – four or six – and they do some shopping, and things really crank up in the afternoon and go all night long. It’s become a ritual.”

Nearly as predictable is the “Christmas creep” – the seemingly ever-increasing early beginning to the holiday shopping season.

“I think people are asking for Christmas earlier, and we’re giving it to them as evidenced by the decor, product selection, pricing structure, and then a thing like Ladies Day is an event that gives you an opportunity to ramp up the season,” Griffin said. “It puts people in the mood, and that’s very successful.”

This year, retailers might need the holiday boost as much as ever.

When Sioux Falls sales tax revenue is reported later this month, it’s expected to show a continued downward trend.

As consumers increasingly are squeezed in their daily living budgets, they’re looking for value in their holiday shopping, said Sheryl Nelson, owner of Kidtopia at Dawley Farm Village.

“I think it’s a little cautious yet. I really do. I’ve seen a lot more people looking for deals, looking for the coupons,” she said. “I think they are willing to shop. They’re just hoping for a deal first. I think people are actually adjusting their budget and spreading out over the time period so they can afford it more throughout the season.”

In the toy industry, “there’s a little bit of everything” trending, she said, without one massively popular go-to item. “There’s no clear winners on that this year.”

She plans to offer a pre-Black Friday sale Nov. 19 offering 20 percent off storewide.

“That’s usually our busiest day of the year,” Nelson said. “And we do 20 percent storewide Black Friday, so those are our two biggest of the year.”

Throughout the holiday season, she plans to host Santa every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. and every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each Sunday will offer 20 percent off whatever customers can fit into a stocking they bring from home.

“I’ve had people call after our catalog came out and ask if we can ship things for them,” Nelson said. “We can do whatever people want. We’re here to go the extra mile, and big-box stores don’t always do that.”

For Cooks & Bakers Kitchen, continued interest in dining at home combined with a new offering for the east side has been bringing in customers. The store opened earlier this year, making it the first holiday season at Dawley Farm Village.

“People love having the store on the east side of town, which is cool,” owner Joanne Bogus said. “It’s been fun. We’re just waiting on it to really take off.”

Starting Nov. 26, the store will begin opening on Sundays for the holiday season, offering everything from high-end cookware, bakeware and knives to stocking stuffers such as mini tool sets and gadgets.

In the meantime, Bogus has been getting out the word about the store through in-store promotions and special events.

Piper Arts brought in a traveling gallery recently, and she has hosted everything from engagement parties to young professionals events.

There’s also a recipe-talk happy hour on Fridays from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and a Saturday morning bake shop with sampling from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“We’ve got a lot of exposure,” Bogus said. “We have strong inventory. We’ve gotten a lot of new things since we opened. There are some really popular items that go quick.”

Across town at The Empire Mall, “I think it’s going to be really similar to last year,” general manager Dan Gies said.

“Black Friday has started just like last year, and once it starts in week two of November, you see that steady incline, and it’s really positive. If it’s a mirror to last year, then every week is going to keep building on sales.”

The mall opens on Black Friday at 6 a.m. and will stay open until 9 p.m. Extended hours will continue from there.

And if the trend continues, by the fourth week of December, which used to be “fanatic week,” nearly all shoppers will be done already, he said.

“But the early Black Friday sales are significant, and they’re traffic drivers,” Gies said. “There’s a big handful of retailers out here running it. Right now, you’re seeing customers with four and five bags in their hands, so it’s pretty solid.”