Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are HUGE days for our small business.
They're the days that we look forward to all year, with big plans and loads of anticipation - they're also the days that help us pay the bills. "Black Friday" is so named as the day that retailers go from operating at a loss ("in the red") to covering overhead ("in the black"). Thanksgiving flips a switch in the shopper's mind that it's time to find holiday gifts. While the whole year is important to the success of running a gift store --- the holiday season is really where the rubber meets the road. At Common Deer the last 6 weeks of the year are INTENSE - and Black Friday Weekend is the big kickoff - our store is packed absolutely solid full of smiling, excited customers, with drink tastings, snacks, live music, giveaways, and lots more. On these crowded days in the shop, I often imagine our store as a well-oiled machine humming along as our store team works together to help 1,000s (yes really) of customers find thoughtful gifts for their list. These are the days that Common Deer really comes alive. It's truly a magical time at Common Deer, but of course, we cannot safely pack our store this holiday season.
Through the pandemic, we have worked to keep our team safe and our business afloat, by closing early, requiring masks for everyone, operating by appointment, offering local delivery, and much more. This year (like last), we have decided to have our storefront closed to in-person shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving. That’s right, a gift shop being closed for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday – we must be crazy?!
Running a retail business in a pandemic for over 20 months has mentally frayed our edges, and our team and owners need time to recharge. Our storefront being closed for Black Friday / Small Business Saturday allows our team the full weekend to rest and spend with family. Secondly, being closed these days will reduce the chances of large crowds at the store and exposure for our team and customers - as out-of-town guests gather and the risk increases. Since we have so many wonderful customers that come out those days to "show their support" we decided that it was best to encourage online orders that weekend. And lastly, this decision makes it REALLY CLEAR that you should get your shopping done early this year. While we plan to remain open through the holiday season, we really have no idea what the future of the pandemic holds. We're selling out of some of our favorite gifts already and restocking is limited this year due to supply issues (yes, it affects us too!). All that's to say, if you see the perfect gift for someone, get it now before it's gone.
As always, we'll be open online for your gifting needs throughout that weekend. We plan to re-open December 1st for in-store shopping. We apologize to those that traditionally shop our store with their families that weekend. We know that this will not necessarily be met with understanding from all, but we hope that you respect our need to make decisions that are right for our team.
So we're shifting the energy of Black Friday and Small Business Saturday from two hyper-focused days to a fun TWO WEEKS--- November 10 - 24! Look for specials and promotions going on by subscribing to our emails at the bottom of our website.
Our storefront is open these hours (link), and we will release our special promotions, free gifts, and more to our email subscribers. Make sure you open our emails - you never know what kind of holiday surprises might be in there. Follow us @commondeer on instagram for updates.
Thank you for supporting our decision.
Thank you for supporting our small business and goods made here.
- The Common Deer Team