Shops in Madison take different approaches to Black Friday

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Madison retailers are taking different approaches to Black Friday, a holiday that has shifted a lot over the past years, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owner of Hive of Madison Pam Schwarzbach says small businesses don’t embrace Black Friday as much as other, larger companies.

“The big boxes and the direct-to-consumer vendors can do that because they have the margin built into that product,” she added. “But the idea of incenting sales or purchases through discounting isn’t very good for the long-term viability of a business.”

Across town, Paper Source is busy preparing for the post-Thanksgiving holiday. Market manager Eric Sedelmaier says they’ve been getting ready for weeks.

“Yeah, like our holiday season really kicked off November 1st,” Sedelmaier said. “So, like right after Halloween everything in our store has been converted to pretty much the winter wonderland you see now.”

He says customers are already flocking to their Madison location, anticipating what’s to come.

“People are always asking what’s gonna go on. So, you know, we kind of keep it top secret till the end. But, yeah, we definitely have Black Friday specials this year running all weekend long versus just one day, but we’re definitely saving until post-Thanksgiving.”

Meanwhile, Schwarzbach says there are some other dates small businesses in the Monroe Street area are gearing up for.

“So, our approach, at least at our shop, is to really focus on the small business Saturday and, you know, Giving Tuesday, Cyber Monday, those sorts of things where we can really focus on our customer and the idea of supporting community.”

The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday spending to reach record levels in the coming months, anticipating it will grow between 3% and 4%.

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