The winter holiday shopping season hit hard Thursday before many recovered from their Thanksgiving dinners.
The National Retail Federation reported record-breaking online sales and store crowds Thursday and Friday and projects a total of more than 140 million American shoppers throughout the weekend.
Bainbridge shoppers lined up at Wal-Mart, Belk and local shops around town for deals.
Godwin Jewelers saw its biggest Black Friday turnout ever with customers lining up before 8 a.m. to “Beat the Clock” for savings.
“It was definitely the largest Black Friday we’ve had,” said Ronnie Godwin. “It seemed like we were about 15 staff short [Friday] morning.”
Godwin said that they saw customers from around Southwest Georgia and Northern Florida.
“In the jewelry business, [Black Friday] until December 24 can make you or break you,” Godwin said. “We kind of wait all year for this because it’s so fun.”
Randee Eubanks of Bella’s Boutique said she was busy most of the day. Bella’s offered store-wide discounts and the chance to enter a raffle for a Yeti cooler and $100 Bella’s gift certificate.
“I like working with the bigger crowds,” Eubanks said. “It means business is good, and it’s great to see people shopping locally instead of just going to the chains.”
Belk was packed for a big portion of the day, with its main attraction being the $19.99 boot sale.
“I knew the boots were on sale, but I’m also checking out the other deals,” said Bainbridge native Nikki Haire as she sifted through the boxes to find a pair of boots her size.
Many stores have sales going into the weekend with Small Business Saturday promoting local businesses. Some stores like Maiden South on the square decided to not compete with the Black Friday chaos and focus on the shop-small movement.