Jeff Angerman of Angerman’s Inc., hears the “cha-ching” of holiday sales on Friday, Nov. 25 as Black Friday got underway on Front Street.
The opening of Front Street during the winter break of the Wrangell Road Improvement project was a boon to some of the downtown businesses that expressed concern over a holiday road closure.
The annual holiday shopping extravaganza known as Black Friday made its return appearance in Wrangell last week as sales were up among a number of retailers.
Jeff Angerman, owner of Angerman’s Inc., and Angerman’s Outlet, said his sales were up over 2010 – and made a connection between the opening of Front Street and the increase in profit for businesses.
“In general, our sales were much better than in 2010,” Angerman said. “Of course, last year, the whole economy was down. It was a turkey.”
This year, however, was no tryptophan-laced bird for Angerman’s bottom line.
“Our sales were up by more than 50 percent over last year’s numbers,” Angerman added. With the road opened up about 3 p.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, it set us up for a fantastic Black Friday and White Saturday. We had a store-wide sale and people responded by showing up.”
Although construction on Front Street has ceased for the winter, Brenda Schwartz-Yeager’s art shop next to NAPA Auto Parts didn’t see an uptick in sales due to lingering barricades and materials.
“We had hoped to have been open for sales on Friday, but there were still barricades, frozen plastic and construction rubble in front of our store,” Schwartz-Yeager said. “For the first part of the day it was unsafe to have anybody access the store. Later on, we did try to clear some of it out, but it wasn’t really very approachable.”
Schwartz-Yeager added, however, that she looks forward to a better showing during “Midnight Madness” on Friday, Dec. 2.
“We’re hoping that by this weekend all of the barricades and other materials will be moved and we’ll be up and running,” she said.
Steve Cole, the owner of Stikine Drug, said his balance sheet has not been affected by the road closure this year – and that holiday shopping over the weekend has been a boon for his business.
“We were closed on Black Friday, but we opened up for White Saturday,” Cole said. “I have to say that sales were great. It’s the best Saturday we’ve had all this year.”
Midnight Madness, Wrangell’s annual sales holiday is set for this Friday.
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