Updated: McHenry County residents show up in smaller numbers for in-person Black Friday shopping

With several big-box stores closed for Thanksgiving, some Black Friday shoppers took the opportunity to sleep in and get a late start on their early Christmas shopping.

Christmas music played throughout the Algonquin Commons on Friday morning as lines extended outside only a few shops. Indoors, masked customers pushed freshly sanitized carts and shuffled between aisles marked for social distancing.

“Everyone seems to be following the rules,” said Nicole Stadie of Hampshire.

Despite capacity limitations and other health and safety requirements, holiday sales during November and December are expected to increase between 3.6% and 5.2% compared with last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Some small businesses throughout McHenry County also experienced more business than usual, as consumers made a clear effort to shop local, several business owners said.

The continued spread of COVID-19, however, has led to a shift toward online shopping for people ages 55 to 74, according to the NRF. The pandemic also has contributed to the growing popularity of delivery and in-store pickup options.

Still, customers came out Friday for in-person shopping – even if the experience strayed from their normal Black Friday traditions.

“We usually go out the night before,” said Allie Bochat of Crystal Lake.

Bochat and her fiancé, Chris Selner, stood in line outside the Algonquin Bath and Body Works hours after they normally would head out for Black Friday sales. The couple, who already had visited Hallmark and Victoria’s Secret, reported that stores were surprisingly uncrowded compared with previous years.

“It’s a good shopping experience,” Bochat said.

Several companies, including Walmart, Best Buy and Target, stretched their Black Friday sales to last a week or longer in an effort to keep large crowds at bay.

“Our completely new approach to Black Friday is giving guests flexibility to safely get the best holiday deals on their own terms,” Target Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Christina Hennington said in a news release. “Guests are taking advantage of our safe, contactless options – including shopping in stores or online using our same-day services – to get great ‘Black Friday Now’ deals on the season’s hottest toys, electronics, apparel and more.”

Crowds grew larger in the afternoon. A line of vehicles awaited curbside pickups outside the Crystal Lake Best Buy, while Woodstock’s independent book store, Read Between the Lynes, struggled to keep some merchandise on the shelves, owner Arlene Lynes said.

“We have been much busier than I expected,” Lynes said.

Small businesses, many of which rely on profits from local shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving, also kept busy Friday, Marvin’s Toy Shop owner Laurie McConville said. For the past month, the Crystal Lake shop has fielded questions from shoppers making an effort to do their Christmas shopping at locally owned stores, she said.

“People have been out shopping for the last month or two,” McConville said. “They’re really committed to shopping local and shopping downtown.”

Black Friday traffic at Read Between the Lynes usually is attributed to Woodstock’s Lighting of the Square, Lynes said. The surge of business Friday was all the more surprising since the Square’s lighting happened virtually this year.

Local businesses, including Lynes’, are feeling the effects of a push toward supporting local businesses that might have struggled during statewide shutdowns earlier this year, she said. The closure of Crystal Lake’s Barnes and Noble also makes Read Between the Lynes one of only a handful of bookstores in the area.

Shari Brady of Crystal Lake didn’t know she would be supporting a small business when she began her Christmas shopping Friday. But her pursuit to find “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats had been otherwise unsuccessful, she said.

“I couldn’t find it anywhere,” Brady said.

The 1962 classic was the first children’s picture book with a Black protagonist to win a major children’s book award. To Brady’s surprise, Read Between the Lynes had the book in stock.

“It reminds me of the value of the independent bookstore,” Brady said.