Mirroring the actions of Occupy protesters nationwide, members of Occupy Eugene will try to disrupt some commercial activity on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Local protesters have targeted Valley River Center and its inaugural midnight Black Friday opening for what they say will be a “light-hearted, playful and fun” demonstration, promoting a “Buy Nothing” message.
Kristen Carpenter, an organizer for Occupy Eugene’s action committee, said Wednesday that protesters don’t plan to barricade the center’s doors, brandish signs or even arrive in a large group.
Instead, they have decided to dress inconspicuously — like “normal consumers,” Carpenter said — and trickle into the shopping mall after it opens. Small groups of protesters will perform theatrical skits and sing reworded Christmas carols promoting the movement’s anti-corporation and anti-consumer message, she added.
At a yet-to-be determined time, protesters would then gather for a “flash mob” somewhere inside the center. Carpenter said she couldn’t describe the details about the “flash mob” itself.
Flash mobs are seemingly impromptu gatherings of large groups of people in a public space and are often organized through social media or viral e-mails. They usually involve a brief and often bizarre or humorous musical, dance or theatrical performance of some kind.
Carpenter said the group also plans to spread its “Buy Nothing” message during the rest of the day at the shopping center.
“We’re hoping to achieve two goals: considerably affect the profit of the center’s stores and wake people up,” Carpenter said. “Though people find it unbelievable, we should be able to go one day out of 365 without buying anything at all.”
Diana Bray, the Valley River Center’s marketing manager, said she is aware of the protest and is working “very closely” with police to monitor any potential demonstration.
She said the center’s policy will be the same as on any other day: Anyone being disruptive will be asked to leave. If those requests are ignored and mall security staff is unable to handle the situation, center representatives will call the police.
“This is not the first time we’ve had a ‘no shop’ day,” she said. “The center and the parking are private property, so usually we’ve shown protesters (who’ve been asked to leave) the public property they can go to.”
Eugene police announced Wednesday that they are aware and prepared for the protest. They will respond as needed to incidents and will have extra officers on stand-by, acting Capt. Rex Barrong said.
Bray said she is concerned that the protesters didn’t seem to care about how their actions might affect the shopping experience of families.
“It doesn’t sit well with people who just want to do their traditional Black Friday shop,” she said. “I think frustration (with protesters) is mounting.”
Responded Carpenter: “Maybe those people should think about the children (in sweatshops) who didn’t want to be burdened with the responsibility of putting shirts on the backs of gluttonous Americans.”
Carpenter said she had tried on Tuesday to collect information from Valley River Center vendors to identify local businesses and to provide those stores with Occupy Eugene signage urging consumers to shop there.
She said she was asked to leave by mall security.
“I now have very little respect for Valley River Center,” she said, adding that many smaller local businesses weren’t happy about the mall’s mandatory midnight opening.
Bray said she hadn’t heard anything about the incident Carpenter described. She added that, while not every store owner was enamored by the midnight opening, “it’s not a national versus a local retailer thing.”
“It’s change, and individuals have different reactions to that. There are local businesses that are delighted about it.”
Elizabeth Horvath, manager of the Duck Store at the center, said she didn’t think the protests would hurt sales.
“We’re such a destination store that I’m not worried about it,” she said. “We also have strong local ties. Maybe a more corporate chain would be more affected by it.”
Horvath said her only concern would be overcrowding because of the number of people who arrive on Black Friday.
Cary McIrvin, manager of the center’s Sports Authority, said he would just try to run his business as usual. “Disruptive would be if (protesters) were blocking people from coming into the store,” he said. “But if they want to stand outside and protest, that’s their deal.”
