By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry
B
y the middle of November,
it's easy to feel like the
holiday shopping season
has already been going
on forever. "Jingle Bells" playing
everywhere you go, snowflakes hanging
over the half-price Halloween candy at
the drugstore — and more than ever,
"Shop the Sale!" Promotions running in
every store you enter.
Black Friday may have been heralded
as the "official" kickoff to the holiday
season in decades past, but in 2019
holiday promotions have been running
for weeks before the Thanksgiving
table is cleared.
It can feel like a no-win situation
for most independents. The business
model for sit-and-fit isn't bargain-
basement prices and doorbuster
promotions, but when every competing
big-box store and website has been
advertising BOGO buys and 30 percent
off (or 40 percent or 50 percent …) for
weeks, running your store business-
as-usual looks not only out of touch,
but risks you being passed over
completely.
But according to smart independents,
there are ways to make Black Friday
and the holiday season a win for your
shop — yes, without slashing prices
on every model. Even further, they
say, Black Friday can be the catalyst
to a deeper relationship with their
When everything's on sale,
how can independents make
the holiday season a merry
one for their businesses?
Black Friday Blues? Not Here.
CROWD SOURCE
22 • Footwear Insight ~ November/December 2019 footwearinsight.com
