black friday shopping

Somewhere between the fairway and the green after little fanfare, my son said, “this is just watching two nerds take a walk and trying to trash talk each other.”

In an editorial, The Record says this is the longest traditional Christmas shopping season possible.

Shops in downtown Bel Air reported a strong presence of customers on Small Business Saturday even with rainy and chilly weather.

By David Anderson

Nov 26, 2018

Holiday shoppers know about Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Now, museum stores want to snag a day of their own.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 24, 2018

Shoppers in the Baltimore area headed out early Friday hunting for bargains on toys, TVs and mobile phones, some lining up outside stores such as Target and Best Buy as early as 6 a.m.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 23, 2018

Being a digital consumer has undeniable benefits, but if you do it too much, you miss out on life’s little amusements

By Dan Rodricks

Nov 23, 2018

Thanksgiving Weekend is busy in Bel Air, elsewhere in Harford

More than 50 million consumers are expected to shop this Saturday, Nov. 24 specifically to support small, local businesses on what has become known as Small Business Saturday. Carroll County, for the third straight year, is offering its passport program to incentivize patronizing local businesses.

The policy implemented by Howard County Police Department is meant to mitigate crimes associated with the holiday season.

By Erin B. Logan

Nov 22, 2018

A look at the Baltimore-area stores open on Thanksgiving Day.

By Sarah Meehan

Nov 21, 2018

Two Towson shopping centers, Towson Town Center and The Shops at Kenilworth, are gearing up for busy holiday shopping on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and later in December at Kenilworth, there will be "Procrastinators Night."

By Libby Solomon

Nov 21, 2018

Elkridge neighborhood column

Though more people are shopping online and retailers are encouraging it, crowds are still expected for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the start of what's expected to be a strong retail season .

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 21, 2018

Thursday, we celebrate Thanksgiving, and it’s a good idea to avoid the politics at the dinner table.

Did you get an Instant Pot for Christmas? The electric pressure cooker (which also serves as a slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker and more) was one of the hottest selling items this year, touted as a life- changing home appliance that sold out in many stores during early Christmas shopping.

Strip away the distrust of the Kamenetz administration and Caves Valley, and the proposal for tax incentives to jumpstart Towson Row is quite modest and sensible.

Christmas tree shortage set off scramble at area lots. There is a shortage of Christmas trees, particularly from North Carolina and Oregon, both leading producers

By Jeff Barker

Dec 1, 2017

Consumers shop at small and independent retailers on Small Business Saturday, the holiday after Black Friday created eight years ago by American Express.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 25, 2017

While many of us crashed on sofas and chairs doing our best to sleep off tryptophan served up with turkey, others had another itch to scratch — the urge to shop.

Black Friday may be losing some of its luster to online buying and Thanksgiving day door-busters, but for shoppers like Dyane Munford, it’s as “exhilarating” as ever, a time to strategize, divide and conquer the best deals.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 24, 2017

This first day after Thanksgiving is finally and officially the start of the Christmas season.

There are plenty of reasons to shop local, small businesses this Saturday and year-round.

Thanksgiving and the holidays are not only about being thankful for all you have in your life, but are about being thankful for love as well.

Even as some retailers pushed back against the recent trend of Thanksgiving hours and online shopping made it easier than ever to snag a deal from the comfort of the couch, the most dedicated deal-seekers still packed in their holiday dinner early to flock to the stores.

By Sarah Gantz

Nov 23, 2017

A list of Small Business Saturday events in communities around Baltimore.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 22, 2017

Whether they gather to run Turkey Trot races, watch the thoroughbreds at Laurel Park or squeeze in 18 holes at Baltimore’s municipal golf courses, plenty of people maintain Thanksgiving traditions that have nothing to do with pigskin.

Store hours for Thanksgiving and Black Friday

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 21, 2017

We need to remember, myself included, to be thankful each day of each week, of each month, every year.

Towson area business owners, chamber, encourage residents to "shop small" this holiday season with promotions at small businesses in Towson and beyond.

By Margarita Cambest

Nov 21, 2017

Share Your Blessings holiday list of organizations that assist the needy.

By Libby Solomon

Nov 20, 2017

After last year's flood, Ellicott City merchants looking toward Small Business Saturday, which falls immediately after Thanksgiving.

A roundup of Thanksgiving and Black Friday store hours

Malls pull out the stops to woo shoppers during hyper-competitive holiday season

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 17, 2017

Under Armour releases trove of data on Thanksgiving eating, sleeping and workout habits. The result is a compendium of everything you wanted to know about Thanksgiving choices.

By Jeff Barker

Nov 15, 2017

For one local congregation 60 percent of their decreasing budget is spent on building repair and maintenance and almost 40 percent on salary and internal church items. They are spending almost zero on outreach and mission. And that raises the question “what is the mission of the church?”

Tom Breihan and Ray Cummings, two former Baltimore City Paper interns and big deal music writers who liked my amateur music blog, got me a meeting about

The holiday season is supposed to be a time to celebrate, a time for family and friends to come together, but a number of us find unwelcome guests knocking at our door: stress and depression.

Bryan Bartlett, the holiday lighting king of Ellicott City, works from September through Thanksgiving on his home's annual Christmas extravaganza, a month-long display that has drawn visitors from as far away as Lancaster, Pa.

Betty Okonski, the director of Southwest Emergency Services in Arbutus, has put together the nonprofit's annual toy giveaway for 34 years. She spends months searching for deals and helping local companies and community groups organize toy drives for the charity.

By Jon Bleiweis

Dec 20, 2016

It started when I was asked to keep the grandkids for a day over the Christmas holidays a few years back. In an effort to make it more memorable I got online to find some fun Christmas craft ideas. The plan grew to include a few friends and a big pan of lasagna, assembled the night before so it was ready to bake the next day.

It seems logical to assume that the Ellicott City Station of the B&O Railroad Museum must have been among the hardest hit structures during the deadly flash flooding that nearly destroyed the historic mill town.

No matter how hard we try, the addiction problem gets more tragic. The "we" referenced above is all of us – the police, the county government, the state government, health officials, school personnel, family, friends, neighbors and, especially, the parents.

Online shopping has grown into a retail mainstay in recent years and is expected to reach all-time highs this holiday shopping season. Consumers can access most retailers in the palm of their hands through smartphones and other devices. The emergence of such online buying habits have helped reshaped the holiday season and diminished the significance of Black Friday for brands such as Under Armour and retailers large and small.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Dec 3, 2016

Finally, it's time for those who cling to the past and fight the ever bigger and earlier tide of commercialism for Christmas to let loose and enjoy the holiday in all of its retail glory.

Thank you in advance for helping us provide hope to residents most in need.

Shoppers were more likely to hit an empty line than an angry mass Friday, as stores seemed more sparsely populated than normal.

Black Friday might now be a shadow of its former self, as stores start holiday promotions earlier in the season, and more people shop online. Still, retailers such as JCPenney call in extra staff and launch some of their biggest promotions of the year.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 25, 2016

Even though our celebration of Thanksgiving has been downgraded it will still keep its four "F's" of family, friendship, food and faith. The old song "count your blessings, name them one by one" reminds us of blessings to be thankful for. The joy of going around the dinner table and each person sharing one thing they are thankful for still has its meaning.

Shoppers around the Baltimore region were hitting the malls, plazas and retailers on Black Friday, fulfilling a tradition — even though for many, the holiday retail season has been underway for some time.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Nov 25, 2016

Howard County police are asking residents to track their online purchases this holiday season to prevent theft of packages left outside front doors.

By Andrew Michaels

Nov 25, 2016