Greenwood merchants are preparing for big crowds beginning Thursday as the Christmas shopping season begins.
Wal-Mart will open at 6 a.m. Thursday. The sales will begin at 6 p.m. and conclude at midnight.
Sharva Mabry, the assistant manager and holiday “blitz coordinator” of the store, said shoppers will be allowed to line up inside beginning at 4 p.m. Balloons will mark where the selected sale items are.
Mabry said a “one-hour guarantee” will be offered on five select items, ranging from an iPad Air II to a 55-inch 4K TV. If one of the items is sold out within the first hour, the guarantee will serve as a “rain check,” which the customer can redeem at the store later.
This is the second year that J.C. Penney has opened on Thanksgiving Day.
“We’ll be open at 3 p.m. Thursday, and we’ll stay open all night and close at 10 p.m. Friday,” said Jamie Underwood, manager of the store.
Judging from last year’s response, Underwood said, she’s expecting to have “customers lined up at the door.”
The store will hand out coupons to the first 800 customers, and each person who receives a coupon is eligible to compete for a $10,000 cash grand prize.
Sears will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. for those who make a $5 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Conerly’s Shoes and Clothing will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, owner Mike Goldberg said.
“The whole Delta comes to us on this weekend. We’ve got people from Greenville to Yazoo City,” he said.
Goldberg’s brother, Jerome Goldberg, the owner of Goldberg’s, said his store will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and will offer savings on shoes and clothing.
“Black Friday is very productive for us,” he said. “When you’ve been in the same location for 94 years, it helps. Things have changed over the years, but Black Fridays are always the same. You’ve got to be ready to go.”
Anthony Ola, the president of Ola’s Shoes and Anthony’s, said both of his stores will be open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
He said a large number of his customers will be from out of town.
“Black Friday is a real big shopping day for us. We’ll have the best prices of the year,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
