Published: November 30, 2009 03:34 pm      

Ada’s ‘Crack of Dawn’ sale big success

Ada — Ada’s third annual “Crack of Dawn” sale Friday was a smashing success, according to participating retailers.

Dawn Stokes, store manager of Stage in North Hills Shopping Center, was ecstatic with the results at the Ada location.

“We had tremendous, tremendous results,” Stokes said. “It was just unbelievable. It was such a pleasant day because we didn’t have any issues, the customers were excellent.”

Stokes said a district manager from Stage Stores was on hand during the early-morning sale and was nearly in shock at the turnout of local shoppers.

“Corporate was calling him getting results from all of the stores and we were number one in our district in volume,” Stokes said.

The Ada location of Home Depot also reported excellent sales. Tyler Gray, head of hardware, said sales were $50,000 to $60,000 higher than last year’s taking in an estimated $147,000 Friday.

Gray credits having a Home Depot circular in the Ada Evening News this year for the higher turnout saying there wasn’t one in the paper for 2008's “Crack of Dawn” sale.

Another merchant, Radio Shack, also had good after Thanksgiving sale numbers.

“(The sale) went really, really well,” said James Jackson, assistant manager of Radio Shack’s Ada location.

Jackson said the store’s sales were up about $3,000 compared to last year’s numbers.

Mike Sherrell, manager of Orcheln Farm and Home supply located in Arlington Center, echoed what other retailers were reporting.

“It went real well yesterday,” Sherrell said Saturday. “A lot better than expected.”

Sherrell said sales were much better than the 2008 "Crack of Dawn” sale.

Stokes also reported sales were higher during the 2009 “Crack of Dawn” at Stage compared to 2008.

“We doubled last year’s figures,” Stokes said. “We did much better than we anticipated.”

Doug Poe, assistant manager at J.B.’s Lumber and Hardware said Friday’s sales were good and also better than in 2008.

Started in 2007, “Crack of Dawn” was designated a city-wide, day-after-Thanksgiving shopping promotion to encourage residents to shop Ada first before going out-of-town for holiday bargains.

Stokes said despite the downturn in the economy and bleak outlook for the 2009 holiday shopping season, Ada has done well.

“You hear all of the negatives on TV with the economy and here we are in Ada, Oklahoma and things look so rosy,” Stokes said with a laugh. “We’ve been totally blessed.”

According to the Associated Press, Friday’s anecdotal reports showed bigger crowds at stores (nationally) as shoppers appeared to buy more than last year, while even buying some items for themselves such as coats and comforters.