‘There’s a lot less people.’ Here’s what Black Friday shopping looks like in SLO
Early-morning shoppers were greeted with a beautiful sunny day in San Luis Obispo as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season.
The foot traffic was light downtown and many small local shops were closed Friday.
Josh Ernstrom of San Luis Obispo went shopping with his two brothers at Best Buy in San Luis Obispo. He said it’s something they do every year.
“We thought we’d pretend things were normal and safely go out and shop,” Ernstrom said, adding that they weren’t “looking for anything in particular ... We’re just going out to have fun with family.”
Ernstrom said that Black Friday felt completely different this year compared to previous years. “There’s a lot less people,” he said. There (are) no long lines. There’s literally hardly anybody in the store.”
“We’re hoping things will be a lot more normal next year. We definitely want to continue supporting local businesses here,” Ernstrom added. “It’s kind of a bummer everything went online. I personally want to see local businesses get going again and people shop there.”
Jose Cunigo of San Luis Obispo, who was browsing at Best Buy for a new television, agreed that shopping inside the store wasn’t like it was in other years.
“It might be because people are scared of the COVID-19 (pandemic),” he said. “Some people don’t have a job, so (they have) no money.”
In downtown San Luis Obispo, Jackie Lewelling of San Luis Obispo and Leigh Collier of Santa Maria said they were having a good experience shopping at the Avanti’s on Higuera Street.
“(Shopping) is quiet and regular. We were over at Old Navy and Target and it was pretty quiet.” Collier said. “It’s more like a normal day, not a Black Friday.”
“Everyone has gotten used to online shopping,” Collier said.
“Which is causing all these little stores to suffer. We need to pump it back into the small stores,” Lewelling added.
Moondoggies Beach Club store manager Joseph Lee said the Monterey Street surf shop was anticipating shopping to increase as the day goes on.
Boo Boo Records owner Mike White said his Monterey Street store had a limited edition, mini-turntable vinyl release event at the downtown San Luis Obispo store early Friday morning that brought a line of people down the sidewalk.
“We are expecting it to just be steady all day today,” White said. “If we have to line people up out front, we’ll do that. Most people understand. It’s really a short wait.”
“We’ve been managing the (coronavirus response) really well,” he said. “We require masks, of course, hand sanitizer when you come in, and we’re limiting the occupancy to what is safe.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 1:03 PM.