Customers trickled into the Homer Bookstore within its first hour of opening last Saturday. The bookstore ran sales and offered free gift wrapping that began on Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving normally full of deals for the upcoming holiday season. Owner Lee Post said they saw many more customers than they normally do on Black Friday.
“That's the day that people typically traditionally take off from Homer and go to Anchorage, or go to Soldotna, and then catch all the, the big store sales and stuff there,” he said, Yesterday being Black Friday, we kind of expected more of the same, but it was actually, it was the busiest Black Friday we've ever had.”
Post said they expected to see more shoppers as the day went on.
Kachemak Gear Shed manager John Katelle also said days like Black Friday don’t normally draw in crowds of shoppers.
“A lot of times, it seems like Black Friday isn't huge force. Unless it blizzards, then people don't leave town,” he said.
The jump in sales locally could be attributed to “Shop Local Bingo,” an event put on by the Homer Chamber of Commerce. 25 businesses held different promotions for the weekend that took up a spot on bingo cards shoppers took to those stores to get stamped. The more rows, or bingos, they filled up, the more entries they had for a gift basket drawing. The baskets include items donated by the businesses, as well as a grand prize of 500 Homer Bucks – a form of credit that can be used at participating stores.
Homer Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brad Anderson said this type of event encourages people to shop locally and keep money circulating within Homer.
“We really wanted to find a way we could do a little boost to bring in some economic activity and why people would want to do their Black Friday shopping here in Homer versus anything online or going elsewhere,” Anderson said.
This year, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche declared last Saturday to be Small Business Saturday, a day normally dedicated to promoting small businesses after a more corporation focused Black Friday.
These types of sales also help people like Chamber of Commerce marketing director Mina Gherman, who wants to shop locally but can’t necessarily do so because of the higher prices.
“I feel like this is the first chance where I feel like maybe I am willing to go into the stores and purchase things that I've been looking at or wanting,” she said.
For businesses like the Homer Bookstore, these sales do more than bringing in customers.
“We would make everything 10% off and just kind of as a thank you for hanging with us all these years,” Post said.
Post also uses the weekend to gauge what books customers are looking for as they go into the holiday shopping season.
The drawing for the gift baskets and prizes will happen this Thursday, Nov. 30, during the Chamber hosted Christmas Tree Lighting.
Correction: This story was updated on Nov. 29, 2023 to change the date of the Christmas Tree Lighting from Wednesday, Nov. 29 to Thursday, Nov. 30.
