Millions of Americans will head out the door lster this week to take part in the holiday tradition of Black Friday shopping.
The retailers we talked with in the Flathead Valley say that they are carrying sort of a "build it and they will come" mentality. While they say they don't know what expect, retailers are hopeful and say that they're preparing for large crowds.
JC Penney manager Dave Fox tells us that so far, 2009 has been somewhat of a struggle, but they are confident Black Friday will help turn things around.
"We are optimistic. We are seeing things improve in the last 2 or 3 weeks so we are feeling really good about it."
JC Penney and Herbergers are two of the stores that plan to open at 4:00 a.m. Friday with what they call their door buster deals.
Kalispell Center Mall manager Alisa Ibey told us that after what has been a tough 2009, the stores are investing a lot in Black Friday.
"We are hoping its going to be bigger than last year. We have high hopes for this holiday season. I think everybody is exciting for it. They've all been prepping for it and getting their sale items ready. And so I think there is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for Friday."
Meanwhile, Target in Kalispell has been preparing for Black Friday for nearly two months and say that between inventory, sale items, staffing and safety, there is a lot to plan for.
Each year they have about 500 people lined up at their doors when they open at 5:00 a.m. However, Target Manager Montana Danford says that even though Black Friday is by far their busiest day of the year, it doesn't make or break them.
"It's a very small percentage of our yearly sales, so we don't count on that to get into the black like a lot of smaller stores do...that's why they call it Black Friday. For a big store like us, it's a very busy day, but it's not something that we depend on as far as sales for the year."
However, the Kalispell retailers we talked with all agreed that with the economy still in recovery, this Black Friday means more than it did in past years.
