On Thanksgiving night — or Gray Thursday, if you want to call it that — crowds of shoppers gathered inside of Walmart awaiting the proverbial 6 p.m. starting bell that allowed them to buy discounted items such as TVs, iPads, video games, vacuums and even Tupperware.
Yes, Tupperware. But to be fair, at less than $7 for 30 items, any 1950s housewife will tell you it was a steal of a deal. And any 2013 gamer will say you’re crazy if you’re not in line for $30 copies of Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto V.
Love it or hate it, Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales sure do have a way of bringing out customers.
Sara Spradley puts a tool set on a rack at Newby’s Ace Hardware on Wednesday in preparation for the store’s early morning opening on Friday.
Lenny Johnson calls the sound similar to a “stampede of horses.”
The co-owner of Starboard, an apparel store in the Prairie Hills Mall, has been a part of three Black Friday doorbuster sales pushes. Each one has been more interesting than the last, he said, as the mall doors open and customers flood in — some of them running — toward stores looking for deals.
“It is absolutely the craziest thing you will ever see,” Johnson said. “You can literally hear the feet.”
Dickinson’s population has practically doubled in the past five years and many who work in retail businesses said sales have improved during that span.
Hundreds gather at New England’s Lions Park on July 30 for Burgers in the Park. New England, which was down to an estimated 460 residents not long ago but now believes it is closer to 700, has received many positive effects of North Dakota’s Bakken oil boom. Though it does not having a producing well within 15 miles of its city limits, as oil development continues its slow march south, New England officials are preparing for the possibilities that come with increased activity.
NEW ENGLAND — There isn’t a producing oil well within 15 miles of New England.
But just like many other western North Dakota communities, the small town in northwestern Hettinger County is seeing a revitalization thanks in large part to the economic impact of the Bakken oil boom.
Several new homes are being built, and the city’s population has increased from 460 a few years ago to an estimated 700.
Business isn’t exactly booming, but it has seen a noticeable uptick with more sales tax dollars being generated, longtime community businesses building new facilities and new businesses opening along a once-decaying Main Street.
All are great signs for a small town that only a few years ago seemed relegated to watching businesses close as its population grew older and dwindled.
“Main Street in New England hasn’t probably looked this good in 30 years,” New England Mayor Marty Opdahl said.
Dickinson is a community changing so rapidly it’s almost to the point where it’s difficult to know exactly what is going where. Seemingly every day, a new building or business pops up.
The city has never been stagnant, however. In my short lifetime, I’ve seen a variety of changes.
I remember eating at Skippers and Sergios, going to Anfinsons for farm — and, as a kid, toy — needs, while shopping for groceries at Buttrey’s and going to Woolworths downtown, where my prime enjoyment came from getting to ride the escalator.
We’ve changed so rapidly over the past two-and-a-half decades that it’s amazing to sit back and realize that most of the businesses in town have held steady through one oil boom and bust, and now many are thriving like never before thanks to the latest boom.
The sign for Wildcat Pizzeria is shown in the North Park Plaza in west Dickinson. The pizzeria is located upstairs and will be accessible off State Avenue. (Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand)
I got a first look inside the new Wildcat Pizzeria on March 20 thanks to owner Russell Meads.
What I got out of my impromptu tour after stopping by on my way home for lunch was that the New York-style pizzeria has the potential of being one of the coolest places in Dickinson when it opens April 12 (or sometime around there, Meads said).
One of the most interesting things Wildcat brings is, as Meads told me, is the pizzeria’s “great ingredients.” Great and interesting is more like it. You’ll be able to build your own pizza with corn, eggplant, many kinds of peppers and different tomatoes.
From all accounts, Meads’ Wildcat location in Williston has been a hit so they must be doing something right.
A native of Cape Cod, Mass., Meads’ restaurant also features New England clam chowder – the East Coast style, not my hometown’s style – Stromboli, nachos and boneless wings.
But, what the people of Dickinson will like most is the full-service bar that includes a patio area in the summer months.
The inside of Wildcat Pizzeria is seen March 20 while the restaurant was still under construction. (Press Photo by Dustin Monke)
Wildcat Pizzeria also happens to be in the North Park Plaza on the corner of 15th Street West and State Avenue. It’s an area where home building is booming, meaning it should do well in the long term. While it serves pay-by-the-ounce frozen yogurt, it will benefit from having Cherry Berry located in the same building.
I love pizza. Most of us do. And, honestly, Dickinson could use another sit-down pizza place now that Happy Joes is officially gone. Hopefully Wildcat will be able to fill that void.
Dustin Monke 