Black Friday Brings Mixed Bag of Sales for Area Stores

For area businesses big and small, this year’s day-after Thanksgiving sale event was a tale of two Fridays.

in Avon was so busy between 10 p.m. and midnight on Thursday, they stopped letting people in to avoid violating the fire code, said zone supervisor Anna, who refused to give her last name.

“We were only letting people in as other people left,” Anna said.

Mindi Ellison, who co-owns an Elyria-based food cart called The Shak, set up shop at Best Buy in Avon to feed the huge lines.

“At one point, the line stretched all the way around to the back of the building, and was spilling out into the parking lot,” she said. “We did good, but we thought it would bring more business for us.”

Managers at Best Buy were not available for comment.

Away from the big box retailers, some small-business owners said it was like any other day in their storefronts.

“Things were pretty slow for me,” said Ray Litten, owner of in Avon Lake. “Business won’t usually pick up for me until Christmas gets closer.”

Mitch Gabel, an employee at , said business there was “about average.”

“It’s been a pretty calm day,” he said.

At , an employee who did not want to be identified for this article, said business there depended on how many people stopped in after going to the adjoined spa.

“We’ve had brisk business this morning,” he said. “

At , owner Theresia Oreskovic said business was busy, but steady.

“We’re not overwhelmed,” Oreskovic said. “There was a small line to get in this morning, but it’s not anything we can’t handle.”

Peter & Co. was running a sale on Pandora “Black Friday” charms for bracelets, Oreskovic said, and that was the main cause for the line.

“Traffic has been about as good as last year,” she said. “It’s been a high-traffic day, but we haven’t gotten overwhelmed.”