This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Missed all the shopping craziness and bargains on Thursday night and early Friday? Don't despair because retailers big and small are rolling out heavily discounted items throughout the Thanksgiving weekend and during the course of the entire holiday season.
Online, for example, they are unveiling bargains galore leading up to Cyber Monday and beyond, and in-store there will be plenty of doorbusters on Sunday.
Shoppers are responding to all the great deals. Mall and store operators say consumers have been out in force in Utah and the rest of the country since Thanksgiving Day.
The National Retail Federation is expecting a record 152 million people to shop for holiday gifts this weekend, up about 10 percent from 138 million last year. Given the shaky economy, that's good news for retailers, most of whom depend on buying activity this time of year for more than one third of their annual revenue.
Smaller local shops such as Apartment 202, a fashion boutique in Salt Lake City at 850 E. 900 South, reported strong traffic Friday. "It's super busy," said owner Ashley Rothwell-Campagna. "It seems much busier than last year."
Like many other operations her size, she is hoping for lots of foot traffic on Saturday, which is being dubbed Small Business Saturday. Through efforts such as the Facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday, consumers are being urged to do more of their holiday shopping at locally owned enterprises.
Apartment 202 also is joining other small businesses in the 9th & 9th area for Small Business Saturday Shopping Crawl from noon to 6 p.m., when merchants will offer special one-day discounts. Rothwell-Campagna is offering 15 percent off any single item in the store.
Consumers continue to flock to major retailers, though, for deals on electronics. The stores are selling popular items such as big-screen TVs, laptops and game consoles for $200 or less.
"This is the first time I've shopped on Black Friday but it's really worth it," said Charlie Small, of Holladay, who was among those Thursday night taking advantage of early store openings to pick up an Xbox and a TV.
This year, Old Navy and Walgreens were open during the day on Thanksgiving, with many others following suit Thursday night.
"It was really busy for hours" after midnight, said Fashion Place mall General Manager Celeste Dorris. "We had a lot of shoppers here for the stores that were open."
After a lull in the wee hours of the morning, shoppers returned in force at 4 a.m. for the opening of Sears, followed by Dillard's at 8 a.m. and Nordstrom at 9 a.m., she said.
Friday morning, shoppers returned to other malls and shopping centers, waiting in line for deals at stores such as warehouse club Costco and bookseller Barnes & Noble. Even The Home Depot and Lowe's were reeling in shoppers with doorbusters such as poinsettias for only $1.
Although Cyber Monday is the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season online, many merchants were offering an array of heavily discounted merchandise on Friday. Deals site Groupon.com was selling $20 Old Navy certificates for $10, while LivingSocial.com had a host of half-price offers, including a $20 OfficeMax.com certificate for $10.
Becky Zamora, of South Jordan, plans to have most of her shopping done by this weekend. "The nice thing is that I won't have to worry about having to do much shopping the rest of the season."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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