farragutpress

Black Friday

Not what it used to be

December 3, 2025 by Tammy Cheek

Some still remember the mad rush on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when retail shops offered sales and people stood in line to get the best merchandise.

But, with the advent of online shopping, Cyber Monday and COVID, store owners and managers have seen the changes.

“We don’t open on Thanks-

giving Day, which is nice,” reflected Michelle Austin,

general manager of JCPenney

at 11534 Parkside Drive. “We used to do that.”

Now, “we opened on Black Friday at 5 a.m. this year, and we did giveaways throughout the day,” she said. “We changed that a couple years ago where it kind of helps people — even if you’re not a 5 a.m. person — you still have the opportunity to win some things and get some of the specials we are running a little bit throughout the day.”

While online shopping has had some effects, Austin said she still has loyal customers who enjoy the personal shopping experience.

“JCPenny has a good loyal following with customers,” she said. “And this time of year, we get the customers who only come in a couple times a year. They might live a little further out, so they’ll come out to Turkey Creek to do their Christmas shopping.

“But, I definitely have my loyal JCPenney shoppers,” Austin said. “And here in Farragut, we have a lot of people who live in this area who are loyal to us, too.

“Last year, I had a pretty good line,” she said. “They were down to the fence, so I usually get a good 5 a.m. line, if it doesn’t rain. We’re not a mall, so they have to stand outside.”

Another feature of the Black Friday specials is “we give away the snow globes at 5 a.m., and our customers do love those JCPenney snow globes,” Austin said. “It’s a little Snoopy one this year. People like to collect those.

“And then, we have the coupon giveaways, so one customer could win a $500 off 500 coupon,” she said. “There’ll be some $50 off 50 coupons, and $10 off 10 coupons.

“The customers who like a deal and a coupon will come in,” Austin added.

However, she observed, “I don’t think I get the same kind of crowd (as previous years) … a lot of people who don’t like the crowds shop early, and then the customers who enjoy shopping and enjoy the rush of the day and getting the little coupons and the little giveaways, they’re going to come out on Black Friday.

“So, it’s nice because it kind of spreads it out for every kind of customer,” Austin said.

For people who don’t enjoy the crowd, she said JCPenney offers the same sales and pricing throughout December.

Another retail shop still

seeing crowds is Snooty Patootie at 11134 Kingston Pike, which also has a location on Outlet Drive.

“We typically have a large crowd on Black Friday,” said Cameron Craig, store manager for Snooty Patootie. “Definitely our biggest day of the year, I would say.”

However, “leading up to (Black Friday, the crowds) seem to be a little slower,” she said. “I don’t know if the economy has something to do with that or not (but) ever so slightly it’s a little lower than expected.”

Regarding online shopping, “we do some Black Friday sales online as well, and I imagine it does affect our sales in some ways,” Craig said. “I know a lot of the brands that we carry try to protect our livelihood and have a lot of restrictions on sales and how the stores that carry these brands are allowed to do that, so that helps us out a lot.”

“Black Friday used to really be the start of the season,” said April Moss, store manager for Katys Hallmark, 11527 Kingston Pike in Village Green Shopping Center. “Most people waited until then, waited for the deals to start.”

But, “now, we start getting people asking about Christmas stuff going out in September,” she said. “But, I think online shopping has changed Black Friday shopping dramatically.”

And, “there’s really been a big difference in Black Friday since COVID,” Moss said. “That was really a surge in online shopping at that time, and that just changed the way people think about shopping.

“A lot of people do it on Thanksgiving night and sit on their couch after they eat turkey and shop (online),” she said. “But as a small business, we were never really crazy busy, like big box retail. I think people do that first and then come here and get all their stocking stuffers and wrapping paper and little specialty things we do.”

“Even in years past, our December has been a big deal, more so than Black Friday,” Moss added.

“(Black Friday has) always been a very busy day,” said Beverly Sellars, owner of The Shoppes at Homespun, both at 11523 Kingston Pike in Farragut’s Village Green shopping center and in Maryville. “We usually have crowds starting, probably, after lunch and then continue on until 6 o’clock, when we close.

“It’s always been really good; but in the past few years, I will say Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) has taken over, just more people out (on that Saturday)” she said. “I think they’re really wanting to support small businesses, and because people advertise it as Small Business Saturday, that really helps to get people out.

“And for some reason, maybe they’re still tired from Thanksgiving,” Sellars said. “But it just seems like in the past five years or so, (the crowds have) gone down a little bit but it’s still good.”