Holiday Shopping Weekend Off to a Big Start, Say Merchants

Deal hunting shoppers this past weekend were running on a full stomach thanks to , which ran out of bread and orange juice during the busy weekend.

“This has been a really good week for us. Wednesday was nuts and Friday was even busier,” Manager Frank Adamopoulos said.

Business lingered in the morning and picked up right before lunchtime this weekend at Zoe’s.

 “We ran out of bread on Saturday and Sunday, and our bread guy said “Man, I knew you were going to run out,” Adamopoulos said.

Zoe’s was one of many area businesses which participated in a Small Business Saturday promotion from American Express, which offered a one-time $25 rebate to shoppers spending at least $25 at a small business after registering their credit card online.

“I noticed that credit card transactions were high this weekend,” Adamopoulos said.

Black Friday a mad time at women's clothing store

, a women’s clothing store with hundreds of locations saw more business on Black Friday than Small Business Saturday.

“Yesterday was wild and crazy. I expected the store to be busier than it is today, but it’s not too crazy,” store manager Maha Robles said Saturday.

Robles was part of a full shift on duty for an 8 a.m. opening on Black Friday, and said business was a tad quieter on Saturday.

Black Friday also a winner at Guys N Gals

Lois Levenson, co-owner of the clothing store, had one word to sum up their business on Black Friday: “fabulous.”

 “This was the best Black Friday we’ve ever had,” Levenson said.

Guys N Gals ran a promotion the past two Black Fridays, giving shoppers who spend $70 a free Sugarlips brand tank top.

Levenson thinks shoppers that shop small don’t need an extra incentive to do it — they just do.

“We told people about the promotion on Saturday, but most shoppers didn’t know about it and were too late to capitalize on it,” Levenson said.