Business & Tech

Harrison Businesses Take Different Approaches to Black Friday

From business as usual to offering special bargains of their own, Harrison's businesses aren't giving in to large box stores this Friday.

Downtown Harrison will never be confused with the Palisades Mall, but local business owners have a strategy for competing with large box stores and the massive deals they offer during the holiday season.

Exactly what the strategy is, however, depends on the store. At the Harrison Dollar Plus store, manager Hossian Ahmed said his store doesn't need to compete directly with large box stores on Black Friday because he provides a different type of service.

"For us we are going to be here regular hours," Ahmed said. "We don't have anything special, especially our business because we are at rock-bottom prices as it is."

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The Dollar Plus store does offer jewelry and clothing, but Ahmed said regular low prices and a personable shopping experience are what draws shoppers to his store. Plus, with it's location downtown people aren't going to be in the area at 3 a.m. like at Wall Marts and Targets throughout the area.

"Not going to happen," he said, adding that he expects to do most of his Black Friday business during the day when locals are in the area on a day off from work.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Other stores are trying to compete with Black Friday deals of their own. At Gabrielle's Jewelry on Harrison Avenue, Store Manager Maria Ruales said she is offering 10 percent off everything in the store on Friday. She will also stay open an extra half hour on Friday and open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays until Christmas.

"Every jewelry store, Christmas is the biggest season," said Ruales, who said she is offering the deal for the first time in her fourth year in Harrison. She said the idea is to keep more people shopping locally.

Ruales said she hopes customers are drawn to her store because of her low prices and convenient location to shoppers in Harrison, Mamaroneck and beyond.

"Our jewelry is high in quality at affordable prices, compared to if you go somewhere else out in the retail area where they are high quality, but they are high prices," she said. "We are looking forward to meeting new people."

Although the scene in Harrison won't match that at other Black Friday destinations, both store owners emphasized that shopping locally is an important part of keeping a local identity here in Harrison.

"As much as we would love to shop in these big box stores, I think the majority of the economy is based on small businesses, small mom and pop stores," said Ahmed. "Who doesn't want to go to your corner store, or a store in town that knows your name."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here