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Salvation Army goes digital, accepting cashless options in red kettle campaign

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NEPA under winter storm watch as snow moves east across US

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; The Black Friday crowds were small, but the bargains were big.</p><p>Despite more and more people turning to online shopping and the pre-Black Friday, already Black Friday sales, a lot of people stuck to the post-Thanksgiving tradition of standing in line, shivering and waiting for doors to open to rush in for those special deals.</p><p>Whether it be a big-screen television, a free iPhone, or the latest electronics and toys, shoppers got for up pretty early &#8212; not that early &#8212; to head out and save major bucks as they trimmed down their Christmas lists.</p><p>Allie Duttry and Nick Oman of Bloomsburg drove to Target in Wilkes-Barre Township looking for a new, bigger TV. They found it &#8212; maybe two.</p><p>Duttry and Oman were pushing a cart with two televisions &#8212; a 42-inch screen and a 50-inch screen.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re still deciding which one to get,&#8221; Duttry said. &#8220;It&#8217;s for our bedroom.&#8221;</p><p>Another shopped walking by advised, &#8220;Go big or go home.&#8221;</p><p>Oman said the crowd at Target was the biggest they had seen on Black Friday, having made stops at Dick&#8217;s Sporting Goods, Old Navy and Ulta. Crowds were also found at Lowe&#8217;s, Walmart, Kohl&#8217;s, Best Buy and Bed Bath &amp; Beyond.</p><p>As the 7 a.m. opening bell approached, more than 100 shoppers &#8212; some in line and the others keeping warm in their vehicles &#8212; suddenly bolted for the doors as Target opened.</p><p>Asked what they were looking for as they walked in, shoppers shouted, &#8220;electronics, TVs, iPhones, video games, toys, Barbies&#8221; and more, like Baby Shark stuffed animals.</p><p>Maria Marcum of West Wyoming was shopping with her mother and her niece, just looking to trim down their Christmas list.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re looking for deals everywhere,&#8221; Marcum said.</p><p>Marcum said they arrived at 5 a.m. only to find most stores were not open that early.</p><p>&#8220;We went to Dick&#8217;s and Ulta,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We thought we had to come early to get the sales on time.&#8221;</p><p>Her niece was looking for air pods. They also visited Kohl&#8217;s and the Wyoming Valley Mall.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a tradition every year,&#8221; Marcum said. &#8220;It&#8217;s fun.&#8221;</p><p>Chris Peters was at Target to get a free iPhone.</p><p>&#8220;All you have to do is sign up for a package,&#8221; he said, noting that the offer was for the latest version of the iPhone. He was with a group hoping to score on the iPhone offer.</p><p>Sam Bekanich of Plymouth and Sara Ashman, in town from Baltimore, were also looking for a new iPhone.</p><p>Walking toward the check-out counter was Mike Houser, 17, of Hazleton. He was carrying a giant teddy bear.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s for my girlfriend,&#8221; he said.</p><p><strong>National trends</strong></p><p>An Associated Press story noted that this will be the shortest shopping season since 2013 because Thanksgiving fell on the fourth Thursday in November &#8212; the latest possible date it could be. That means customers will have less time to shop and retailers will have less time to woo them.</p><p>The AP story said Adobe Analytics predicts a loss of $1 billion in online revenue from a shortened season. Still, it expects online sales will reach $143.7 billion, up 14.1% from last year&#8217;s holiday season.</p><p>But the ever-growing popularity of online shopping and holiday discounts that started weeks earlier dampened the frenzy. This year, more people got a head start on gift-hunting, lured by deals from retailers trying to compensate for the shorter season.</p><p>Still, AP said Black Friday is expected to once again be the largest shopping day of the season, followed by the last Saturday before Christmas, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks spending across all types of payments including cash and check.</p><p>&#8220;The overall picture is positive,&#8221; said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy, in the AP story. &#8220;People are spending out of positive cash flow as opposed to borrowing.&#8221;</p><p>With more holiday deals happening earlier to compensate for the late start, AP reports that many have already started to shop. More than half of consumers have already started their holiday shopping and nearly a quarter of purchases have already been made, according to the annual survey released by the NRF and Prosper Insights &amp; Analytics. The survey of 7,917 adult consumers was conducted Oct. 31 through Nov. 6.</p><p>&#8220;This is further evidence that the holiday season has grown far beyond the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas,&#8221; said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF, in a statement to AP.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL113019Blackfriday1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Shoppers head in to Target at the Arena Hub on Black Friday at 7 a.m. looking for deals. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL113019Blackfriday1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Shoppers head in to Target at the Arena Hub on Black Friday at 7 a.m. looking for deals. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL113019Blackfriday3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Shoppers make their way through the toy section of Target on Black Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL113019Blackfriday3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Shoppers make their way through the toy section of Target on Black Friday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL113019Blackfriday2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Allie Duttry and Nick Oman of Bloomsburg pick up some good deals on big-screen televisions at Target on Black Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_TTL113019Blackfriday2-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Allie Duttry and Nick Oman of Bloomsburg pick up some good deals on big-screen televisions at Target on Black Friday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle. The Associated Press contributed to this story.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Small crowds, big deals on Black Friday