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Customers at Jen's Furniture & Collectibles Lakeside were greeted by a store window display that recalled jolly holidays of yore.
CELINA - Black Friday marked the beginning of the holiday shopping spree for millions of Americans who flocked to big box retailers in pursuit of mega savings on a wide array of products.
"We had about 100 people waiting outside the doors," said Mason Tharp, assistant general manager of Menards in Celina. "We had a bunch of awesome products that people were after. They were eager to get in the door and get them."
For many area boutiques and stores, today, also known as Small Business Saturday, is just as important as it puts an emphasis on spending dollars locally during the final crucial stretch of the year that can make or break the bottom line.
"Instead of the local shops kind of filling in at the last minute, we kind of try to encourage people to think of us first," said Angie Topp, owner of The Cornerstone Shop in New Bremen. "So much of the money that you spend locally goes right directly back into the community, with the wages and taxes, the benefits that the small businesses provide the school, the Little League team and the yearbook and all that. Those are important things to consider."
American Express introduced a marketing promotion called Small Business Saturday 15 years ago. It has been co-sponsored by the Small Business Administration since 2011. The idea was to promote smaller shops over the big box chains.
"Small businesses are the backbone of our communities and play a major role in Ohio's economic success," said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in a statement. "Every dollar spent at a local small business goes toward strengthening our economy, creating jobs, and building community pride."
Ohio has more than 90,000 small business retailers and a total of more than 989,000 small businesses statewide, according to data published by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Small businesses employ more than 2.2 million Ohioans.
Data suggests that more than half of Americans intend to shop on Small Business Saturday, according to Lending Tree, a national online loan marketplace.
A pair of shoppers browsed the bargains at Jen's Furniture & Collectibles Lakeside.
Some local businesses are offering special deals to reel in customers. Raffel's Engine Service, an outdoor equipment store in Coldwater, will have sales on select snowblowers and a lawn mower, while Hometown Creations in Celina will offer discounts on hats and gloves, flameless candles and other items.
"It's a pretty big day," said Sandi Watercutter, who owns Hometown Creations.
Karen Elshoff is hoping to see an influx of customers at her store, The Rural Squirrel in Celina. The business specializes in an eclectic mix of home decor and vintage furniture.
"I hope so. I'm counting on it," Elshoff said about the prospect of booming sales today. "It's a small store but it's packed full."
In addition to supporting businesses and the community, local shoppers are often treated to unique experiences and personalized customer service.
The Cornerstone Shop carries over 4,000 Christian books and Bibles, Christian-themed jewelry and rosaries and gifts for babies, baptisms, First Communion, confirmation, weddings, anniversaries and bereavements.
Staff can help direct customers toward a book or gift that might appeal to or be appropriate for a person based on their age or interests.
The store places special book orders about three times a week.
"We're a Christian book store, but we had someone last week who wanted to order the latest memoir by Cher, and so we could get that in for her in a couple of days," Topp said.
Another perk of shopping at The Cornerstone Shop is free gift-wrapping.
"Everybody loves that at this time of year," she said.
Watercutter echoed Topp's sentiments on the benefits of shopping local, highlighting the personal touch customers get at mom-and-pop stores such as Hometown Creations, which sells home and garden items, candles, soaps and lotions, speciality foods, home decor, linens, jeans, boutique clothing and many other products.
"I feel deep in my heart about this," Watercutter said, adding she's cultivated customer loyalty by bending over backward to accommodate them. "Small businesses will help you more. You need something special, a lot of times they'll order things for customers, get things in that they need that we may not carry."
Jen's Furniture & Collectibles Lakeside in Celina had a stream of customers.
In contrast to online vendors, brick-and-mortar businesses facilitate unique, tangible experiences that can't be digitally duplicated. according to some local business owners.
"Just the experience of it. I think it's just so important to have places for people to go," Topp said. "We all have our work, we maybe have our favorite restaurant, but people need places. They can come here and maybe they run into their neighbor."
When it comes to Christian-based book and gift stores, many are drying up outside the region, Topp said. Customers from Dayton and Columbus said they're forced to travel to New Bremen due to the dearth of Christian book stores in their towns.
"They're gone, but in our area, they're hanging on," Topp said, pointing to Christian book/gift stores in Maria Stein, Botkins and Fort Loramie. "It's the people, it's this area, it's this little pocket of faith that we have in west central Ohio that keeps all those stores going."
Shoppers raced to Menards early Friday for deals on toys, tools and high-end electronics.
After weeks of plugging increasingly inviting discounts, retailers in the United States and several other countries entered prime time: Black Friday, the bargain bonanza that still reigns as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season even if it's lost some luster.
Retailers were even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
Menards, a family-owned Midwestern company, was closed on Thanksgiving but back at it again on Black Friday, opening doors at 6 a.m. The Celina Menards saw heavy traffic all day, according to Tharp.
"We had the big rush right at the beginning of the day, but it's still been steady throughout the rest of the day," Tharp told The Daily Standard. "People are coming in, trying to get the remnants, double checking, seeing if we still have stuff but then shopping the rest of the remaining Black Friday products that we've got here."
Among the sought after deals were household items, appliances, tools, novelty lights and toys.
One shopper at Menards paused long enough to scan the newspaper ad for good deals.
"We had a couple packs of AA or AAA batteries that flew off the shelves," Tharp said. "We had an emergency fire blanket. They were gone within a matter of an hour or so. We've had some Shop-Vacs … and tool accessories that people were after."
Tharp agreed that Black Friday set the tone for the store's holiday shopping season.
"We get a bunch of people in here who are only coming in for the deals. Sometimes they haven't even stepped foot into a Menards before and then they get to come and see all the other great deals that we have, see our amazing Christmas selection, a bunch of our toys, as well as getting their home needs."
-The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Despite the frigid temperatures Friday, long lines of people were outside Menards before the store opened.
