Retail outlets are once again gearing up for an early start to the holiday shopping season.
Retail outlets are once again gearing up for an early start to the holiday shopping season.
In Hilo, several national chains are planning to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day and continue their sales through the traditional start of the season, Black Friday.
Judi Mellon, director of the Hawaii Small Business Development Network, encourages shoppers to visit other spots after the doorbuster deals have been snapped up.
“My mantra is: You’re going to go to big box stores on Friday … don’t go there on Saturday,” she said. “Go to small businesses.”
Throughout the past several years, interest in shopping local during the Thanksgiving holiday has increased, largely thanks to the Small Business Saturday campaign launched by American Express in 2010.
“I think it’s a movement that’s really being embraced by people,” said Christine Reed of Basically Books in Downtown Hilo. “People make an effort to come out that day and shop local, and they do mention that they’re out to shop small.”
Basically Books has participated in Small Business Saturday since the outset. This year, the store will host a talk by Wayne Subica of the Hawaii Plantation Museum. In the afternoon, members of Mystery Authors of Hawaii Island will be “booksellers for a day.”
“Just talking story with customers and waiting for the parade to start,” Reed said.
Small Business Saturday coincides with the annual Downtown Hilo Light Parade, which begins at 6 p.m.
Basically Books and other downtown businesses will be staying open late until the start of the parade.
“We’re trying to encourage businesses to take advantage of Small Business Saturday, to let us know what’s going on so we can put it on social media.” said Lani Shigehara Walters, president of the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association, which hosts the parade.
Mellon and the Small Business Development Network also are hoping to boost interest this year by creating a “passport” program for shoppers. Six businesses in downtown Hilo and three in the Manono Street shopping area are part of the program.
Shoppers don’t have to buy anything when visiting the nine businesses, Mellon said. They will get stamps on their passport for visiting and, upon completing the entire nine-store trip, be entered into a drawing for a gift basket containing items or gift certificates from the businesses.
“We’re just trying to stir the waters,” Mellon said. “There’s a lot of data that shows us that … money stays in our community when we shop in these local businesses. It really does make a difference.”
Personnel at Thundering Seas Jewelers, one of the passport stores, said they noticed more people “out and about and supporting us” on past Saturdays.
Manager Justin Perry said he worried about customers spending too much of their money at the big stores Thursday and Friday to then come out for a third day of shopping.
But, he said, “It’s good that there are local organizations that are looking out for us. As a small business, you spend so much on advertising, so it’s cool to see that there’s folks advertising for you.”
Thundering Seas also has been talking with other local businesses in the same shopping area to coordinate promotion of each other’s stores, “so we can kind of advertise for each other,” Perry said.
Mellon said she, like most people, shops at big box stores, but “whenever I can, I want to keep it here.”
“If we all would just spend $10 more a month (at small businesses), we would circulate so much more money in our local economy,” she said. “We hope to keep it going.”
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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Participants in the Small Business Saturday “passport” initiative are Dragon Mama, The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo, Extreme Exposure, Basically Books, Crib, The Locavore Store, Thundering Seas Jewelers, Aloha Pawz and the S. Tokunaga Store.
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Holiday shopping hours for large retailers:
• Wal-Mart: 5 a.m.-11:59 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 5 a.m.-11:59 p.m. Friday
• Walgreens: 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 7 a.m.-11:59 p.m Friday
• Ben Franklin Crafts: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday
• Old Navy: 4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to 11:59 p.m. Friday
• Macy’s: 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to 2 a.m. Friday; 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday
• Target: 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to 11 p.m. Friday
• Sears: 6 p.m.-11:59 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 5 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday
• K-Mart (Kailua-Kona): 6 a.m.-5 p.m., 7 p.m.-midnight Thanksgiving Day; 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday
• Long’s Drugs (Kilauea Ave): open 24/7
• Long’s Drugs (Prince Kuhio Plaza): 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 7 a.m.-midnight Friday
• Office Max/Office Depot: closed Thanksgiving Day; 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday
• Prince Kuhio Plaza: 6 p.m.-11:59 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 6 a.m.-9 a.m. Friday
(NOTE: Individual store hours vary. Visit princekuhioplaza.com for more information.)
• Home Depot: closed Thanksgiving Day; opens 6 a.m. Friday