Black Friday a big help to retailers

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - One day after the biggest shopping day of the year, many Wabash Valley businesses say they are pleased by their sales.

Holiday sales are expected to be down one percent nationwide. But some Valley businesses are getting off to a great start.

Black Friday is so named because it's the traditional day when retailers starting turning a profit after being in the red.

Pacesetter Sports had sales eight percent more than last year. This comes in a year when sales are down eight percent.

"Black Friday was a little better than I expected it to be," said Pacesetter co-owner Marlon Nasser.

Black Friday marked the one year anniversary of Disc Replay's grand opening. The store opened three hours early. Even then there were 40 people waiting outside.

"It actually was 25 to 30 percent over last year so it was fantastic," said co-owner Scott Philiph.

But it was not just budget retailers seeing the extra cash. Rodgers Jewelry saw a 25 percent increase over last year. And Black Friday isn't typically one of the biggest days of the year.

"We do have some business on Black Friday but it did surprise us somewhat," said owner Ben Stein.

As for whether the good sales numbers will continue through the rest of the holidays, opinions are mixed.