Merchants are hoping customers will open their wallets wide this year and are luring shoppers with sales and even midnight opening hours on Black Friday.
Downtown Martinez retailers are embracing the second annual Small Business Saturday, a promotion sponsored by American Express that encourages shoppers to spend a chunk of their holiday dollars with local merchants. Saturday, Nov. 26, is the date this year for "shopping small" and locally.
The National Retail Federation says the holiday season can represent from 25 to 40 percent of annual sales for some retailers. In 2010, holiday sales represented 19.4 percent of total retail industry sales, according to the federation.
Will Martinez shoppers spend most of their holiday money downtown? At regional shopping malls or discount warehouses? Online?
Take our (non-scientific) poll, and add your thoughts about holiday shopping in the comments section below.
