Black Friday not a hit for all stores

MORAINE, Ohio (WDTN) - If the start of Black Friday is signified by the rolling of a cart, it's end is marked by the slamming of a trunk.

Although for the Oneys it all sounds like just another day at the store.

"We really don't pay attention to Black Friday because we shop all year," says Beulah Oneys. "It's not a one day deal."

But for most everyone else Black Friday is like a bargain hunter's paradise and a claustrophobic's nightmare.

"I passed one lady and she said this is giving me anxiety and I said you're in the wrong place for that," says Carol Renick of her shopping experience.

But it's the right place for stores like Meijer, where Black Friday means a lot of green thanks to shoppers like Renick who started at 8:00 p.m. Thursday night and was back for more Friday afternoon.

"We want home and slept a little bit," Renick says.

But they're singing a different tune on Black Friday at Daddy Katz, a vintage and retro shop just a few blocks away from Meijer in the 3200 block of Kettering Boulevard.

"Smaller shops you don't have the people lined up at the door like you do at the bigger shops," says the owner, Bill Winger.

It's not that the store doesn't have some Black Friday deals of its own.

"In fact today every sale you get a free can Koozie," Winger says.

You can also find quite a selection, everything from a motorcycle to an aluminum tree.

But even with all the unique items, Black Friday just isn't the hit it is at the big retailers.

"People kind of come and go," Winger says. "One minute a big crowd next minute kind of dead."

Winger hopes the nationwide initiative known as 'Small Business Saturday', where shoppers are encouraged to patronize their local stores, will help.