Photo / Renee Cordes
The Black Friday scene at L.L. Bean in Freeport.
December 2, 2019
Holiday shopping season off to a strong start in Maine
Photo / Renee Cordes
Retailers across the state inaugurated the holiday shopping season over the weekend. This was the scene in downtown Bath on Saturday morning.
The 2019 holiday shopping season in Maine appears to be off to a running start amid strong Black Friday and Small Business Saturday retail sales this past weekend across the state.
"So far we've heard very encouraging feedback from local businesses like Sea Bags, Mexicali Blues and Bridgham & Cook," Kelly Edwards, executive director of Visit Freeport, told Mainebiz on Monday. "We also heard from a few national brands that both the midnight and 6 a.m. openings were very strong."
Mari T. O'Neil, general manager of the Outlets at Kittery, was equally upbeat, saying that people were lined up at 5 a.m. for the gift-card giveaway at Carter's and Osh Kosh, and that a number of power shoppers took advantage of the free treats at Customer Service.
"Traffic on Saturday morning started a bit slower," she added, "but was busier in the second part of the day." There were also several Canadian bus tours on Saturday.
And what about the statewide picture?
"I am hearing reports that this weekend was a good weekend for retailers," said Curtis Picard, president and CEO of the Augusta-based Retail Association of Maine. "One of my members told me they had the best Black Friday they ever had so it's a good sign that consumer confidence remains strong." That jibes with pre-long-weekend predictions.
The weather cooperating also played a role, he said.
Curtis also said while there's a lot of attention on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday today, there's also an important bigger picture.
"These are great marketing tools," he said, "but what I've seen happening is both retailers and consumers continuing to evolve and adapt to omnichannel shopping. These days, it's less about how many people turn out on Friday versus how much sales were made throughout the extended weekend through brick-and-mortar and online sales. "
Maine Brew Bus and Fork Food Lab
The Maine Brew Bus, which offers tours to craft brewers, wineries and distilleries in Portland and beyond, brewed up strong sales over the weekend, according to general manager Don Littlefield.
"Our Black Friday sale is always a hit," he said. "It is the only time during the year that we discount our gift cards, so it is perfect for people to buy a tour for themselves or to use it as a gift to others."
He said that merchandise packs offered with gift cards have become especially popular, and that the company rang in more than $4,000 in online sales on Black Friday — most of which were gift-card purchases.
It also helped spread the world about the first-ever Small Brewery Sunday, promoted by the Colorado-based Brewers Association.
While the Maine Brew Bus didn't have any special tours for that, Littlefield underscored that its regular tours always celebrate locally owned breweries.
Portland food-business incubator and shared commercial kitchen Fork Food Lab also drew a big crowd to its indoor market on Small Business Saturday.
It was fantastic to see the community come out again and support the small businesses that work out of Fork Food Lab," said general manager Jenn Stein. "Almost every sale was a diverse assortment from multiple vendors, which is always our goal with these markets."
Courtesy / Fork Food Lab
Fork Food Lab's Small Business Saturday market will be followed by a series of events throughout December, including a holiday market on the 21st.
Fork Food Lab will follow up with a host of events throughout the month, including an open house on Dec. 6, a dumpling workshop on Dec. 19 and a holiday market on Saturday, Dec. 21.
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