Local toy store company owner speaks on Black Friday and rest of holiday shopping impact

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Plenty of people will be heading out to shop these next few days. It all started on Black Friday and will end on Cyber Monday.

“Exactly. You call it the Super Bowl of shopping or, if I was an accountant, this would be tax season right?” Briblackan Miller, Owner of Geppetto’s Toys, said.

Miller told ABC 10News that this weekend and the rest of the holiday session is important for their business.

In fact, the National Retail Federation saystoys are one of the top three gift categories this season.

“It’s really key for how the year turns out overall. Even though our business is steady throughout the year, the last, you know, six weeks of the year it makes a big difference. It can make or break your year as a retailer,” Miller said.

The National Retail Federation is forecasting more than 183 million people will be shopping during this five-day stretch from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday.

That breaks the record set last year.

It’s also expected to see a 2.5 to 3.5% growth in spendingfrom November to December, totaling between $979.5 billion and $989 billion.

“It’s not only a bonanza for the shoppers, but it’s a bonanza for the stores,” Professor Alan Gin of USD’s Knauss School of Business said.

ABC 10News spoke with Gin about the expected holiday shopping trends and whether people have more buying power.

“People have just gotten a misconception of what was happening. Yes, prices are up, but in this recent time period here, what we’ve seen is that wages have risen faster than prices have increased. So people’s real incomes have gone up,” Gin said.

It’s encouraging what this holiday shopping season can bring for this toy company owner with how many people Miller’s seen on Black Friday alone.

“More foot traffic than I’ve seen in a long time, and it was great to see. And people buying, which is, of course, what’s important, right?” Miller said.