ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s a big stretch for Floridians to get moving on their holiday shopping.
The day after Thanksgiving is best known as Black Friday, followed by Small Business Saturday, and then Cyber Monday for online shoppers.
What You Need To Know
Per Capital One, Black Friday shopping in 2024 exceeded $10 billion
Prior to online shopping, Colonial Photo & Hobby says that from Thanksgiving to Christmas accounted for at least 50% of their annual sales
WalletHub reports more than 87 million people made an online purchase last Black Friday
According to Capital One, Black Friday online revenue exceeded $10.8 billion last year.
Colonial Photo & Hobby Inc. is competing with companies that have a strong online presence but believe in in-person shopping in an online-shopping world.
On a Friday afternoon, third grader Elliot Sivard is like a kid in a candy store. Instead of going wild for sugary sweets, he’s going aisle by aisle looking over trains, cars, Lego-like games, and other toys.
As he’s browsing, a toy train choo-choos overhead. It’s the sound shop owner Steve Rausch loves to hear.
“People like coming in the building and shopping and seeing all the merchandise, handle it, and learning about it,” Rausch says in front of train sets. “We are able to help them out with all that stuff.”
Meanwhile, Sivard continues to shop.
“It looks like it’s going to take hours,” Sivard says, holding a buildable toy kit. “It looks really cool and be worth it.”
From the 70s to the 90s, Rausch says Black Friday shopping leading up to Christmas at his shop was at least half of the store’s annual sales.
Now, it’s the equivalent of two-to-three months’ worth of sales. Online shopping for this store is minimal, and they don’t plan on making it a bigger emphasis anytime soon.
“It’s a little risky for us,” Rausch states. “We don’t have the ability of an Amazon to have all that data on everybody in the world.”
In 2024, WalletHub reports more than 81 million people stepped into shops and checked out on Black Friday. More than 87 million made an online purchase last year.
This Thanksgiving weekend, Capital One anticipates that between in-store and online purchases, U.S. retail revenue will exceed $20 billion.
In addition, Colonial Photo & Hobby owners say they have continued to try and keep up with the times, meaning Black Friday used to be the day after Thanksgiving, but many now know Black Friday as the evening after Thanksgiving dinner.
The shopping holiday has grown from a day to a weekend and now many of the deals are really black Friday “week” deals.