Black Friday: Occupy protesters to hit big chain stores

Occupy protesters won’t be concerned with Wall Street and big banks on Black Friday.

This week the protesters will occupy parking lots rather than campuses and Zuccotti Park, in hopes of pushing consumers away from shopping malls and big chains, towards local, small businesses, the Associated Press reported. Some will even encourage people to not shop at all this Black Friday.

Although the Occupy protesters have not created a united front for Black Friday, each city will sport a similar theme in support of mom and pop shops, the AP reported. Various cities have also promised a surprise action as well.

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In Seattle, Occupy protesters will kick-off the day after Thanksgiving by carpooling to Wal-Mart stores to protest with other Washington residents. The Occupy encampment in Boise, Idaho, will send “consumer zombies” to wander around in silent protest of what they see as unnecessary spending, the AP reported. In Iowa, flash mobs are planned at three malls.

Chicago occupiers are going to put more of a holiday spin on their protest by singing Christmas carols with edited lyrics to shoppers, trying to steer them toward local stores.

This latest Occupy statement is similar to the message for Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is also directing shoppers toward small businesses. Small Business Saturday is hitting local areas, such as Pekin, in Central Illinois.

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Small Business Saturday seems to be the answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, both huge sale days in preparation for the December holidays, the Pekin Times reported. Illinois Gov. Pay Quinn also declared Nov. 26 Small Business Saturday in his state.

Northfield, Minnesota is also prepping for Small Business Saturday, which was started last year by American Express, the Northfield Patch reported.

Whether shoppers are out on Friday or Saturday the message in American cities and towns will be clear: skip the big chain and head to a local merchant.