Bentonville Sears cleaned house over holiday weekend
Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Charles Fowler Kelly Williams, owner of the Sears store in Bentonville, stood in the stockroom Monday surrounded by the washers and dryers that were the hot sellers this past weekend.
BENTONVILLE — Like most business owners, Kelly Williams, who opened the Sears store here four years ago, has been feeling the effects of the slumping economy. But this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, he was giving plenty of thanks for washing machines and dryers.
There were no massive lines or people jockeying for position at 2910 S. Walton Blvd. hours before the sun rose on Black Friday, but there were plenty of customers. In fact, Williams, who thought he had set high expectations, was surprised by the close of business Friday. And the customers kept pouring through his doors the majority of Saturday.
“ We tripled our Black Friday numbers from last year and almost doubled our Saturday sales, ” Williams said. “ All morning long, we had people coming through buying — it went strong from 5 a. m. to around noon before there was any kind of a slowdown. We actually exceeded the goals we’d set, and it’s because we had a doorbuster that really worked. ”
That doorbuster was a Kenmore front-loading washing machine and dryer set for $ 599. 99. The cash registers started ringing before the sun rose, and orders continued to be placed until the deal expired at noon Friday. And, according to Williams, the deal’s expiration didn’t keep people away the following day.
“ We didn’t push tools as much as we usually do this Black Friday, but we still held steady with sales in that area, even without all the extra promotion, ” Williams said. “ The economy has been tough on everyone. I can tell you we’ve felt it just like anyone else, but with this holiday weekend, we were up 34 percent for the month of November. I’ll take that every time. ”
This past weekend went so well, in fact, that Williams and his staff are attempting to come up with another promotion to keep bringing customers through the doors. Sears’ encore to the Black Friday washer and dryer set is still unknown, but Williams plans to figure out something.
“ You bet I’m thinking about it, ” Williams said. “ Who wouldn’t be after a weekend like that ? It’s not all doom and gloom. ”
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