Story by: Brenda Mandujano

Thanksgiving dinner is ready and set on the table at 2 p.m.; shoes are waiting by the door. The biggest deals of the year are here and stores open as early as 8 p.m. Thanksgiving day. Big box stores means big discounts. The store with the biggest discounts brings in the biggest crowd.

On Black Friday no one has in mind that buying locally means keeping close to home. Andrew Velasco, a black Friday shopper said, “I’d prefer to buy local, but many times smaller companies can’t afford to drop the prices as much as big box stores.”

Many local stores realize they cannot compete with discounts like gap.com. They offered their online customers 60 percent off the total purchase, plus free shipping on orders over $50, on this year’s Black Friday sale.

Other great deals this year were Walmart, with $5 pajamas for kids and pants for women, and JcPenney, offering up to 60 percent discounts on all items.

Claudia Sanchez said, “I love shopping and getting the best deals. Who can pass up a deal like this.” Sanchez feels that big stores can bring in the most savings, after all that is what she’s led to believe with dozens of websites following big box store deals.

Jeremy Reid, All the Rage Boutique owner, said, “It is difficult to compete on price because of the volume that I purchase compared to the volume that big stores purchase. We are lucky to purchase 6-12 of each item, where big box retailers are purchasing thousands of pieces per item.”

People believe that as a small independent retailer, lower prices are expected and what most consumers don’t understand is that they actually pay more for their product. This is the reason why smaller businesses have trouble keeping up with huge deals. They buy their items at higher prices because of the quantity they purchase and the room they have left to make a profit is small.

Smaller businesses however still need to bring in customers. They do what they can to offer the best deals their store can offer even if some profit is lost. All The Rage also does not advertise, other than connecting with customers through Facebook. Not having a budget to advertise is another obstacle that small businesses have to over come to bring in the most customers.

All the Rage Boutique, opened their second store in Utah, just days before Black Friday. They have been connecting with their customers, via Facebook offering deals and auctions to get their attention.

For Black Friday, All the Rage offered their customers up to a 35 percent discount starting at 5 am at their new location in Gardner Village, located on 1100 West 7800 South in West Jordan.

When asked what Reid would change for next years black Friday, he stated, “next year I may offer a few more Doorbuster only deals or ‘free’ items to the first customers. Our sales were up from last year so next year we will build upon what we accomplished this year.”