In Alabama retailers had the bad misfortune of Black Friday falling on the same day as the Iron Bowl game, so for many shops, they found their customers heading home early to watch the big game. "Yesterday was a very good day up until the ball game started; when that Iron Bowl started everybody was hurrying home to their party to their TV," says Margaret Snider with John John’s Jewelers.
"When the kick off hit, it got a little slower," says Merri Logan with Wrapsody.
Snider says it was amazing to watch her store John John’s Jewelers go from busy to bare 30 minutes before kick off.
"Who ever made that decision was not thinking about retailer because it really killed our business, we did thousands less than we did last year. The economy is bad already. They really made us hurt a little more where they could have put it on another day on Saturday. We need all the help we can get at this time," says Snider.
"I think it would be very wise to check with retailers to see what it did to the Black Friday sales especially with private business," says Logan
While most businesses were affected by the Iron Bowl, there were some that faired better: those that catered to women’s holiday shopping habits.
"As the day went on, there were a lot of ladies who didn't really care about the game who decided to come and shop while it was a little more quiet," says Logan.
It will be at least a month until tax records show exactly how bad the Iron Bowl affected sales.
