You Don't Have to Go Big To Get Black Friday Deals

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Story Published: Nov 25, 2009 at 6:58 PM PDT

By Peter Bukowski

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The Bemis family has been doing businesses in Yakima for more than 60 years. That's a lot of Black Fridays. And while neither Bemis store will be open before the sun rises this Friday, they still have to compete with stores who will.

"It's not a problem at all. Black Friday there's always a lot of really hot buys out there. Most of them start at the manufacturer level," says Ron Bemis, owner of Bemis Appliance.

He even buys from the same folks as those big box stores, and can usually offer the same deals.

"You can't stay in business today, I don't believe, in any field, unless you're competitive with the market place."

I asked if people know they can get the same stuff here for the same prices. Bemis replied with a smile, "The people that come in our doors know that for sure, yes."

Ron's brother Greg owns a television store next door. He thinks helping consumers is about more than just prices.

"People have it in their mind that the big box stores are the best deal, sometimes the value isn't necessarily just in the price. Do we guarantee the lowest price? Well, in most cases yeah, but we also think there's a value in our knowledge and our expertise to go along with it that some of those other stores don't offer."

Not the least of which is the support for a home-town business.

"Why in the world do you wanna buy from a store that sends all their money to Texas or Illinois or whatever? Wouldn't you rather keep it in Yakima? If not, pretty soon none of us are gonna have jobs, " explains Greg Bemis.

So if waking up at four am to get those door busters is part of fun of your post-thanksgiving, you know where to go. But those prices will still be around a few hours later, and you may just be surprised at what you find at a mom and pop store.

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