Black Friday propels sales

The term Black Friday has become synonymous not only with large discounts on most-wanted holiday items, but also with scenes of unruly shoppers stampeding through the doors of the stores offering those sales.

In the Five Towns, however, the term has a more shopper-friendly, community-minded vibe: Next weekend, the Cedarhurst Business Improvement District will sponsor its ninth annual Black Friday and Saturday Night Midnight Madness weekend, when businesses throughout the village offer significant discounts on store merchandise. It starts on Nov. 23, and the Midnight Madness Sale gets under way at 8 p.m. the following day and ends at midnight. The weekend event will conclude Nov. 25.

“The Black Friday Weekend and Saturday Night Midnight Madness events generate millions in revenue and bring in thousands of people to Cedarhurst,” said Teri Schure, the Cedarhurst BID’s executive director. The Saturday-night event has become especially popular in recent years, Schure added, and more than 65 stores and restaurants will take part this year.

Stores like Morton’s Official Camp Outfitter, at 533 Central Ave., are preparing for a big weekend. “Midnight Madness is a great social event for the area,” said Steve Silverman, the store’s owner. “People run into their neighbors, their kids get to run around together. It feels like a small town, which is really nice.”

Another participant is Sox World Plus, at 120 Cedarhurst Ave., owned by Alicia Cascio and her father, Charles. Alicia said that shopping at a brick-and-mortar store has its benefits. “It’s definitely a more personal experience,” she said, contrasting it with ever-more-popular online shopping. “We can help guide people toward what they’re looking for . . . we have a great sales staff.”

Both Cascio and Silverman likened the event to the BID’s annual Summer Sidewalk Sale, which celebrated its 30th year this summer. And while next weekend’s event may be the main attraction as the holiday shopping season starts, businesses in other Five Towns communities also hope to generate more business. A.J. and Mos, at 1026 Broadway in Woodmere, sells fashionable apparel, accessories and jewelry. The store, owned by Beth Star, opened in October, and is planning to host a trunk show, in which it will offer Ela Rae brand jewelry for discounted prices, Nov. 20 through Nov. 27.
“We’re trying to keep things local,” Star said. “We have a lot of unique and different items, lots of brands you won’t be able to find online.”

Roseann Irwin, of Hewlett Jewelers, at 1344 Broadway in Hewlett, said she doesn’t have plans for a Black Friday sale, but added, “There’s always a sale going on.”
“With online sales, you’re not actually seeing the piece,” Irwin said, stressing that in-store shopping enhances the experience. “You’re not feeling it in your hand or trying it on. A lot of time when people do buy it online, they end up bringing it in to me anyway to have it tweaked or to fix how it fits.”

Schure agreed, saying that brick-and-mortar businesses, especially in Cedarhurst, offer a unusual items not found online. “Many of the Cedarhurst stores and restaurants serve specialty foods and shopping items that aren’t as easily or readily found online,” she said. “And online shopping can’t duplicate or compete with the combination of super sales, deep discounts, great food, and the social element . . . I would daresay that Cedarhurst is unlike any other local village or shopping experience in the United States on Black Friday — or, for that matter, any Friday.”

A full list of the shops and restaurants that are participating in the weekend festivities is available on the BID’s website, www.shopcedarhurst.com.