And they’re off … holiday shopping under way

Published 12:00 am Sunday, November 25, 2001

Staff Writer

Neither rain nor gloomy day kept shoppers from their appointed tasks on the traditional post-Thanksgiving shopping sprees.

Friday, parking lots were nearly full as merchants tried to restart a struggling economy with the lure of sales, deals and giveaways.

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Many took advantage of the low prices, dragging not-so-happy husbands and other relatives around to the stores.

Martha Hughes was not originally planning to shop for clothes, but soon found herself picking out something for her 2-year-old granddaughter.

"I’m taking advantage of the sales," Hughes said while shopping at Goody’s, which opened at 6 a.m.

Others around her were also picking up discounted items that may become gifts under the tree.

A study by the International Council of Shopping Centers in New York indicates the day after Thanksgiving has been one of the top five shopping days of the Christmas season in only two of the past six years. That study showed the Saturday before Christmas as the biggest day for shoppers.

Scherr Qualls, owner of Douglas Brothers Jewelry, said he had seen a good bit of traffic, but the day after Thanksgiving is not traditionally the biggest day.

The two weeks before Christmas is when things pick up steam in his business on the square in downtown Troy.

"Most of the big-ticket buyers are men and men are notoriously late shoppers," Qualls said. For him, it was "a typical day after Thanksgiving."