Despite what the economists have to say, I am not as worried about the low number of customers that will be entering my store this holiday season.  I am more worried about how I am going to handle all my customers because I won't have the budget to hire any seasonal help!

Despite all the doom and gloom lately I am really looking forward to Black Friday and all the other craziness that is the Holiday Shopping Season.  This is my first year as a retailer for this season, so maybe I am being naïve, but I have so many fond memories of Black Friday that I am looking forward to it.

My memories go back to when I was a teenager and I would get up really early with my mother to go run to the toy store to get one of the first 50 Tickle Me Elmo's that they were giving away for free for my niece (remember when those were so hard to get they were like Gold!)!  We stood outdoors in the cold waiting for them to open.  It was hard, but it was a lasting family memory.

I also have much more recent memories, just last year I was working part time at Express (hired specifically as Holiday Help) and everyone was required to work Black Friday.  I took the early shift and was in at 5am and out at 2pm!  It was a long day, but it was also fun.  All employees had to wear all black to make fun of the day's donned name.  Also, we were able to go out in the Mall to attract customers to our store.  I had fun with it.

This year I am stealing that idea and going to wear all black that day, as well as inform my employees to as well.  I may even take it one step further and change all the front manikins to wear all black clothing! 

Although we are a small store and don't expect to see the rush that the malls will, I am still a bit nervous for the amount of activity in my store and the lack of holiday help.

I just don't have it in my budget to hire any additional help for the holidays, yet I do plan to extend my store hours on certain days to keep up with the rest of my competition.  Does any one have any good ideas on how to handle this?

I read online that most big retailers don't have it in the budget either this year.  This article reports on a survey that was conducted on this very subject and it showed how holiday hiring is expected to be down 20% from last year!

Well, I hope that all the news in the past month or so hasn't bummed everyone out.  I am still very optimistic for the Holiday season to start!  I'm clothing/apparel so I know it will be tough out there, but I just can't help being happy during the Holidays!