Black Friday in Fresno: Overnight sale frenzy yields to calmer shopping

Nov. 30--Doorbuster events drew packs of shoppers to Fresno stores and shopping centers on Thanksgiving night and in the wee hours Friday. But by mid-morning Friday, it seemed the overnight events had taken some of the wind out of retailers' sails.

Oh, there were still plenty of people cruising parking lots at malls such as River Park or Fashion Fair, or at the Walmart store at Shaw and Peach avenues in Clovis, and ample shoppers clogging sidewalks and store aisles. But many were spotted leaving stores empty-handed, or with only a couple of small packages, rather than the cartloads of booty claimed by the heartier folks who braved the doorbuster openings.

And others came not with their wallets in hand for shopping, but with toddlers in tow for pictures with Santa Claus.

Karen Houghtaling of Oakhurst surprised the three kids of the family for whom she works by bringing them to River Park to see Santa. "No shopping, just Santa," she said. "It's just not worth the headache. I prefer to let everyone else come out and have their fun."

Also in line were Shawn and Traci Huxtable of Fresno, who came to River Park for the sole purpose of plopping their 5-month-old daughter and 5-year-old son on Santa's lap for a picture. While they didn't plan to shop, the family had already visited a Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurant that was all but deserted.

"I thought there might be husbands and kids there" waiting for their shopping wives and moms, Traci Huxtable said. "But we were about the only people in there."

"I did the Black Friday thing a couple of years ago at midnight, and people started fighting and arguing," Shawn Huxtable said. "That just didn't feel like Thanksgiving to me."

At the nearby Target store, brothers Chris and Kevin Wichman of Fresno were among the minority of shoppers who emerged with a cartful of deals. The pair had been on the move from store to store since about 8:30 a.m., but Chris eschewed the notion of hitting the early doorbuster sales. "We decided to play it safe and come out during the daylight," he said.

Brother Kevin, however, did wander out Thursday with his father for some of the Thanksgiving night sales. "We drove by Walmart first and the line went all the way around the building," he said. "So then we came over here (to River Park) to go to Best Buy."

Every store they visited "was just crazy packed" on Thursday night. "But I got $200 savings on a tablet last night."

Among the national chains that shunned opening on Thanksgiving Day, early doorbuster hours or other Black Friday bells and whistles was Sur la Table, a kitchen and food specialty store. Sam Nassar, assistant manager of the River Park store, said the decision by the Seattle-based company "had everything to do with family."

"Our store is all about food and family and entertaining," and staying closed on Thanksgiving was consistent with that focus, Nassar said. The store had a steady stream of customers on Friday, and Nassar said the lack of Thursday shopping or early hours Friday seemed to have no appreciable effect on business.

At Fashion Fair, Friday's midday scene was less congested than last year. Thursday night was the first time that the Shaw Avenue shopping center opened its doors on Thanksgiving night before midnight.

"It was a little bit of an unknown going in," said mall spokeswoman Kelly Tallant. "We knew we'd have shoppers because the department stores had specials that shoppers would respond to, but we were pleasantly surprised" at a larger-than-expected overnight turnout.

By noon, the throng of shoppers had calmed to a "consistent" flow rather than claustrophobic, and the mall's retailers have been "encouraged by the sales they've seen," Tallant said. "They had strong Thursday night sales and those sales continued" into Friday.

Shopping wasn't the only activity going on for Black Friday. In Clovis, about 30 protesters waved handmade signs and handed out fliers during the morning in front of the Walmart Supercenter at Shaw and Peach avenues in Clovis.

The protest, organized by labor representatives including the United Food and Commercial Workers, was one of many that sprang up at Walmart stores nationwide in support of the company's employees. The sign-wavers were pushing for Walmart to increase its wages and benefits for store employees.

Notably, however, no Walmart employees were among the protesters at the Clovis store.

"The workers are afraid to speak out against Walmart," said Georgette Carrillo, a Fresno resident and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Carrillo held a sign that read: "Walmart costs taxpayers billions."

Carrillo said the sign referred to low wages and benefits that she said force some workers to rely on taxpayer-subsidized support.

Another protester, Mike Jennings of Bakersfield, a former UFCW member, said he worked at an independent mom-and-pop grocery store that went belly-up four months after a nearby Walmart store expanded to a Walmart Supercenter with groceries added to the product lineup. He's been unemployed for the past year and half.

"It's nearly impossible to find a decent livable wage in this industry because of Walmart," Jennings said, blaming the company's lower wages and benefits for driving the bar lower for other companies.

The protest drew occasional honks of support from passing motorists in the parking lot -- and close scrutiny from store managers, but did little to stem the flow of customers streaming into the store.

Walmart corporate representatives took the protests around the U.S. in stride and said Friday was "the most successful Black Friday in Walmart's history."

"Black Friday is a big stage and we're one of the biggest players in the retail industry," Walmart corporate communications vice president David Tovar said in a statement issued Friday. "We're not surprised that those trying to change our industry are using this platform to get their message out, and we respect their right to be heard."

Tovar added that the average hourly wage for full- and part-time Walmart employees is "close to $12 an hour" and that the company's benefits include health insurance, performance bonuses, education benefits and the ability to contribute to a 401(k) retirement savings plan.

The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6319, [email protected] or @tsheehan on Twitter.

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