Holiday retail stores announce hours

Black Friday is just around the corner and sales are expected to be increasingly high this year. With many stores opening up with deals on Thanksgiving Day, many are wondering when is the right time to start.

“It is chaos. It is people wall-to-wall”, said Judy Blair, owner of Blair’s Landing.

For local shop owners in Osage Beach, Black Friday is one of the busiest days of the year.

“Dozens of people come in everyday but on Black Friday we have hundreds and it usually continues into Saturday and Sunday also,” said Blair.

Owner of Artpho Gallery and Frame Karen Strange said, “Everybody here is geared up and ready to go. We’re excited to have all of the visitors come through so it’s always an exciting day for us.”

This year, national holiday season sales are expected to go up 4.5% percent. Strange said she too hopes to see her stores sales increase in the coming weeks.

“We have a lot of people that come through looking to buy something specific as a couple or as a family a larger piece for a particular place they are decorating,” said Strange.

But this year when some big stores like Target will be opening up on Thanksgiving Day at 6:00 p.m., these local stores open signs will be off and owners will be spending time with their families.

“We think there are certain times we need to close and just be with family,” said Blair.

We did talk with officials at the Osage Beach Premium Outlets who also said they plan on opening up from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving Day. Best Buy, Old Navy, Macy’s and Bass Pro are just a few others that plan to be open on Thanksgiving Day.

Bed Bath and Beyond, Marshalls, Petco and Pier One plan to not open until Friday morning.