Shoppers look for boots Friday afternoon at Jack’s Western Outdoor Wear in Good Hope.

GOOD HOPE — Nationally, Black Friday crowds were down, but in Cullman County, shoppers came out to start on their Christmas gifting and take advantage of sales.

At Jack’s Western Outdoor Wear in Good Hope, Wayne Walker said the store had been busy from the time it opened at 8 a.m. and would likely continue to see a good number of shoppers until the store closed at 8 p.m.

The store has also added Sunday hours, from 1-6 p.m., for holiday shopping.

“We’ve been busy ever since we opened back up,” he said, referring to the statewide shut down of stores at the end of March.

Rita Dean, owner of Platform, JK Taylor and Taylor + Co. Clothing, said their Black Friday sales were “record breaking.” 

“We met our goals within the first two hours,” she said. At one point, customers at Platform were waiting in lines that stretched from the register at the back of the store to the front doors. “People were waiting for an hour,” she said. “We had plenty of employees, we just needed more registers.”

She passed out candy to those waiting and thanked them for coming out. “We’ve just been so blessed to be here,” said Dean. Customers coming to the Warehouse District store have had to adjust to the streetscape project that’s been going on since February, and also to following CDC guidelines for social distancing and wearing masks.

Through it all, she said, the customers have been supportive of the stores. “It’s been fun running these sales,” she said. “We just really wanted to give back to our customers.”