At Hubert’s of Peterborough, the annual Plaid Friday sale attracted a laid-back but well-prepared crowd on Friday morning.
“Customers come every single year,” said Cheryl Fogg, the Peterborough Shopping Plaza location manager. “People are really big local shoppers here and they show up with lists in hand.”
Plaid Friday started in Oakland as a community-driven response to hectic Black Friday marketing. Fogg said her location has been much busier this year than last, even with shipping challenges.
“We’ve been able to get some comparable items. For example, we can no longer get Crocs but we are able to get Joybees,” Fogg said. “Some of our winter boots are not slated to get here until January.”
Hubert’s has stories in New London, Claremont, Lebanon and Peterborough and doesn’t sell online, but Fogg said they’ve “seen double-digit increases over last year’s numbers.”
“We are definitely having a better year this year,” she said. Even without a few major brands due to shipping trouble, such as American-made loggers Chippewa and Timberland, Levi’s and a lack of women’s snow pants, she said the store sales motto is “sell what you’ve got.”
Backordered boots didn’t stop customers from buying. Matti and Mandy Mahan, of New Ipswich, take advantage of the sale every year for warm work clothes.
“Every Friday [after Thanksgiving] we come here and get work boots for the coming year. We like Keen, the boots,” said Mandy, pointing to a well-worn pair on her feet, “and they have better deals here than on the Keen website.” This year, she said her savings at Hubert’s totaled $75.
Most major Black Friday sales start early, with outlets opening by 6 a.m. Hubert’s was open at 7, but locally, most stores kept normal hours.
A few customers waited outside at Toadstool in Peterborough an hour before the posted opening at 10 a.m. Employee Selinda Chiquoine said Monday that the bookstore’s sales this year resembled pre-pandemic numbers.
“It was a good weekend,” she said. “It wasn’t as crazy as years past—excepting last year.”
Toadstool didn’t have a sale over the weekend, and Chiquoine encouraged shoppers to buy throughout the month as an effort to keep crowds to a minimum and avoid shipping issues.
At the Hilltop in Wilton, Sandy Zielie, owner of the café and several other local businesses, said the day after Thanksgiving is a way for people to connect.
“In this place, lots of things are community-focused,” she said. “It’s a time where people have traveled back to their towns… the farm and the cafe are so intimately connected to the Waldorf schools, alums come back with their families, etc., and they spend time here over the course of this long weekend.”
For Zielie, Plaid Friday is not a trend but how she lives.
“We all know that if you start at a local business, the dollars go back into your local community,” she said.
Derek Fimble, a barista at Hilltop, happened to be wearing plaid but hadn’t heard of the Plaid Friday trend.
“I don’t always like things that seem gimmicky, but [I like] anything that supports small business and pushing people out into their community rather than shopping at huge chain stores,” he said.
On Main Street in Wilton, artist Mike Kline recently opened Galerie Oiseaux, his storefront and studio space. A sign on the front door advertised 10% off original artwork on Friday. As they enter the historic gallery, customers are greeted by the sounds of birds.
“I guess I’m not in touch with [Plaid Friday], but I’m going to change my sign and make it say ‘Plaid Friday,” he said, because Black Friday, “It’s not a great evocative image—it’s just all about money.”
Kline sells his own art as well as creations from artists near and far. He said Monday his sales were about the same as previous weekends.
“It’s a social place for me also,” Kline said. “People come in here and I like them to have that kind of experience.”
In New Ipswich, on Saturday, the library supported local businesses with a two-week raffle event they started last year after the pandemic, and after an order from the fire chief limited capacity in the space.
The library had sold nearly 1,000 raffle tickets at $1 each by noon on Saturday.
“We usually raise about $2,000, so we hope more people will come in,” said Michelle Pelletier, the library director.
Several people called in to join the raffle, but she thinks the snow may have affected in-person turnout.
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