Black Friday was not so black for downtown Rapid City businesses. The post-Thanksgiving rush drew shoppers away from downtown and to the doors of larger retail outlets, but it's nothing to worry about, said Prairie Edge Trading Co. and Galleries general manager Dan Tribby. Downtown merchants will soon have their day.

Super Sunday in downtown Rapid City is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 2 for participating stores.

"There will be sales and food and music," Tribby said. "That's really when we do our Black Friday."

For Bridget Machacek, the owner of Roam'n Around on Main Street, it's trial by fire this Christmas season. The store has only been open six months.

"I'm really not sure what to expect," she said.

Neighboring businesses have been giving her good advice, she said, which has made things easier.

Black Friday didn't bring in any extra customers to the store, she said, but she's hoping "nice, good, clean products will continue to draw shoppers to her store the rest of the year.

"Long-term, I'm hoping people will go back to wanting service and help," she said.

Tribby said he saw extra customers later in the morning Black Friday and is hoping they will keep coming back.

"Once you get through fighting for the '75 percent off' Black Friday, they slip back into the more traditional Christmas feeling," he said, adding that downtown merchants can offer an atmosphere that other retailers can't.

Jacque Sly of the Vintage Vine, also on Main Street, watched as customers strolled through the store Saturday.

"Today has been good," she said. "Yesterday, not so good. The box stores offer big incentives, and it's hard for privately owned stores to attract people."

She said she goes out of her way to let people know the downtown merchants appreciate the business.

"I've been thanking people as they come in, for shopping downtown," she said.

Economic pressure, she said, is felt year-round. The store offers antiques, candles, coffees and teas, stationary, jam and other household decorations.

"I'm not sure about the economy; maybe people are buying more essentials. These are extras," she said.

According to a release from the South Dakota Retailers Association, a current survey shows that two-thirds of retailers say customers are feeling cautious right now, primarily because of high fuel and energy prices.

However, many retailers are planning to use that to their advantage, SDRA Executive Director Shawn Lyons said.

"We've heard from quite a few retailers that they are going to encourage consumers to save on fuel costs by shopping close to home," he said. "With the right marketing, the high fuel prices could actually benefit our small-town retailers."

Tribby said the longer Prairie Edge is open, the better the bottom line gets. Its doors have been open for 20 years.

"It's getting better," he said. "I wouldn't say (the Christmas season) is high pressure. We certainly need it. We need a good end of the fourth quarter."

The SDRA reported that the South Dakota's 2007 holiday season will likely mirror national trends, which means that businesses can expect modest gains from last year.

According to the release, that's in line with nationwide findings. The National Retail Federation is predicting that sales will rise 4 percent this year to $474.5 billion. NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells says that with the weak housing market and current credit crunch, consumers will be forced to be more prudent with their holiday spending.

In addition, NRF projects that the 2007 holiday sales increase will fall below the 10-year average of 4.8 percent. It would represent the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002, when sales rose 1.3 percent.

On Friday, Kristi Hilton, owner of Rustic Mercantile, said quite a few people had been in.

Hilton said business was slower in the morning, but once people got done with trying to find the early morning "super-buys" at major retail outlets, they began arriving downtown for shopping.

"A lot of people came through here," she said.

Joe Boddicker of Arizona was visiting Rustic Mercantile in order to buy clothes for his upcoming trip to Antarctica. He said he didn't hit up the major retail madhouses.

"No, we don't like dealing with mass crowds. We like to support local businesses," he said.

For Machacek of Roam'n Around, that's good news. "I'm excited when one person walks through that door," she said.

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com