By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Local merchants are offering Black Friday specials and Small Business Saturday deals to kick-off the Christmas shopping season.
Nick Koulianos, manager of Stage in Jacksonville, said the store will compete with larger stores by opening on Thanksgiving night from 8 p.m. until midnight and offering big deals on Black Friday when it opens on 6 a.m.
He said this is the first time Stage will be open on Thanksgiving and is offering 300 exceptionally good deals, Koulianos calls them doorbusters, continuing into Black Friday from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. Wednesday’s pre-Thanksgiving sale features a “buy one item, get the second item free.”
“The first 25 people in line on each day will be given $25 gift cards. One of the gift cards is valued at $100,” Koulianos said.
He said Stage wants to give shoppers a reason to come to Jacksonville and stay in town. Get a refreshing night’s sleep and then get back to Black Friday’s shopping frenzy. Stage’s Thanksgiving weekend sale extends through Tuesday.
The Furniture Store in Cabot is offering Black Friday door busters from 9 to 11 a.m. with big savings on Serta Motion Perfect Foundations and other Serta products. There’s also a selection of $25 furniture items while they last.
The Furniture Store is at 111 S. Adams in downtown Cabot. Owner Cyndi McElmurry likes to say, “Shop us first. You will shop us last.”
Others offering Black Friday deals are Cabot’s Merle Norman Cosmetics with 20 percent off storewide. Owner Camille Stout is putting together gift sets for the holidays to take some of the pressure off when it comes to selecting gifts.
She’s offering a kit of brush essentials, something almost every woman would like to have. She’s also running a special on lip polish and eye makeup kits as well as Hussy gift sets. Visit the store at 924 W. Main St. in Cabot.
Others who are having big markdowns for Black Friday include Crafton’s Furniture and Appliance in Jacksonville and Searcy.
Crafton’s is offering its lowest prices of the year, financing and free local delivery.
Dotty Oliver, proprietor of Oliver’s Antiques on Burman near the Knight’s shopping center in Jacksonville, is offering her own Black Friday deal with 20 to 50 percent off all day on Friday.
“We’re marking our display farm tables down. These large popular tables are great items for this time of the year,” she said.
Mind Over Matter is having a Black Friday special offering two massages for $85.
The salon, run by licensed massage therapists, is at 1011 W. Main in Jacksonville.
In Beebe, Warehouse Furniture, 1700 Dewitt Henry Drive, is having a Black Friday sale with low, low pricing on recliners. Storewide discounts will last until Dec. 31.
Also in Beebe, Sport It! opens its doors from noon to 4 p.m. on Black Friday with special deals on Skechers, muck boots, Max4 and Bottomland pullover jackets. CAV 50 cal. muzzleloaders will go for $199.
Knight’s Super Foods and other grocers are open on Thanksgiving.
Orr Nissan, 3131 E. Beebe- Capps Expressway at Exit 45 in Searcy, has Black Friday bonus cash.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the community,” said Amy Mattison, chief executive officer of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.
Shopping locally generates sales taxes that help support city services — the police department, fire department, the library and schools.
Small businesses add employment and enhance a community’s overall quality of life.
“Local businesses care about the community. They bring diversity and character. They support adult and youth programs,” Mattison added.
Mattison said if the community doesn’t support their local businesses, they’ll go out of business and that causes a negative impact on the community.
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) on Tuesday encouraged Arkansans to shop at their favorite locally owned small businesses this weekend in support of “Small Business Saturday.”
