Tri-Cities Black Friday Bucks National Trend

And no, it wasn’t solely because of me!  Although I WAS out there at 6 am, in the line at Kohls which snaked as far throughout the store as last year’s line (which I was also in for about two hours).

I also went to Target and to the mall for a tiny bit.  For breakfast, my shopping companion had the BRILLIANT idea of going to the restaurant inside the Red Lion on Columbia Center Blvd – aka Cavanaugh’s (Cavanuagh’s Landing Restaurant).  GREAT food, excellent service and no wait to be seated.  Oh, and just a tip – when the guy at IHOP says the wait is just 10-15 minutes, he’s lying.

Anyway, it looked to the semi-trained eye (I worked in retail for over ten years, so I know a little about post-Thanksgiving crowds) as if just as many people were out as last year, or possibly more.  And, today’s newspaper confirmed it.

Store managers throughout the Tri-Cities reported large crowds and sales higher than last year in spite of the poor national economy.

Shop on, Tri-Cities!