Napier poised for Black Friday sales

Expect Napier's CBD to be full of bargain hunters during Black Friday sales from Wednesday through the weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor

Napier's CBD is gearing up for a busy week thanks to Black Friday sales, which are expected to draw plenty of consumers into town for some shopping.

Napier City Business Incorporated manager Pip Thompson said sales would be starting from about Wednesday in most cases, and run right through the weekend.

"Realistically, it's a big national chain-store kinda sale, however the smaller stores nationwide are getting on board and having a bit of fun with it as well," she said.

Kiwis spent $253 million during Black Friday sales last year - it was the second-busiest shopping day of the year, according to spending figures from Paymark.

Black Friday is the name given to flash sales events coming the day after Thanksgiving in the United States of America, where the custom originated.

Thompson said between Covid lockdown and the recent flooding of Napier's CBD, it had been a tough year for the city's retailers.

"We don't want our stores to discount, and they don't want to either, but it's an opportunity to have a bit of fun, finish off the year with a sale and try and get as many people into town as we can," she said.

And Thompson said she wants Hawke's Bay residents to continue to shop in-store locally, rather than online.

"These guys have got Christmases to have with their families as well," she said.

She is encouraging people to think early and get onto their shopping lists now as well, considering stock in stores is not at usual capacity levels.

"Shipping has probably slowed, so if people don't get in and get their goods now, who knows what Boxing Day Sales are gonna look like," Thompson said.

"We don't know what next week is gonna look like, let alone in a month's time."

She doesn't foresee any concerns around social distancing measures even if more people are in town together, saying that people know to do the right thing.

"I wouldn't think that Napier or Hawke's Bay are going to have the hustle and bustle like the big, big cities," Thompson said, encouraging shoppers to be mature and use the Covid tracing app to keep track of their movements.