The day after Thanksgiving is said to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year as people try to get Black Friday deals on holiday gifts. Black Friday might spark images of crowded box stores, but here in Cheyenne, people are showing up for local businesses.
Marli Weisman is just one of the shoppers looking for some Black Friday deals downtown, “We spent Thanksgiving in Cheyenne. and then we just wanted to get some Black Friday deals and look at the town. I think it’s awesome to shop locally. And, they have such cool stuff. So I really like the deals. What they do too.”
Over at Wild J Trading, business owner Jennifer Thompson is seeing success from her business participating in black Friday by providing discounts on their products.
Thompson thinks its important for small businesses to participate in Black Friday discounts, “I think it really helps to get your name out to a crowd of people that are already shopping big box stores. and then they’re like, they want to know what other sales are going on downtown. which downtown consists of only small businesses.”
Downtown game store Game Masters also gave discounts on their products. Owner Bradly Koch says he had some worry if people would notice, “My wife and I had disagreements about whether anybody cared. I look around the store right now and it’s like 9:00 in the morning on a Friday, and we have a bunch of customer shopping. So it was a lot of discouragement and I’m glad I was wrong.”
Following Black Friday is Small Business Saturday, and of the businesses I talked to these Black Friday deals will still be available.
Katie Rinee, Co- Owner of the Paramount Café and Ballroom, appreciates events like Small Business Saturday because it shows how much the community cares, “I think tomorrow is going to be a really big day for downtown Cheyenne. And I think that it’s really fun to have shop small Saturday where everybody comes out and shows up for that. I think it’s great the how the community supports downtown Cheyenne and our local businesses.”
While Black Friday is often associated with big box stores, there’s still opportunity for small local businesses to make their mark.
