From flowers to vehicles, cameras to couches, Cranbrook's first ever Black Friday event will be the day to shop when it arrives on Nov. 18.

A challenge that was originally between two sister businesses in Cranbrook has spread throughout the city, and now 40 retail outlets have joined forces to host a Cranbrook Black Friday.

The idea will hopefully give customers a reason to spend their dollars in Cranbrook rather than in the U.S. for their famous Black Friday sales, said Joey Hoechsmann from the Bedroom Furniture Galleries.

"There are people that are going to shop in the states - but why not give them an incentive to shop here in town?" he said.

The Cranbrook version of Black Friday will actually be held the weekend before the U.S. shopping day, so that anyone who would like to attend both can, and also so as not to conflict with other things going on that weekend in the area.

The idea started with Hoechsmann at the Bedroom Furniture Galleries last year, when he challenged his sister store, Ashley Furniture HomeStore to a Black Friday sale.

"It was wildly successful," Hoechsmann said of the 2010 sale.

The event went so well, that he took the idea to the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce and now 40 businesses have joined him. It took some convincing to get the movement going, but Chamber manager Karin Penner said that once the city's media outlets got on board and had Black Friday sales of their own, the event snowballed.

Penner said the event is being modeled after a story she came across from Miner County, S.D., where a group of college students discovered that if the residents invested 10 per cent more of their dollars back into the community, they would boost the local economy by $7 million.

Black Friday is a Cranbrook wide retail event, where businesses are being encouraged to slash prices for one day only. Penner said it is completely up to each business how they want to participate, and some are planning on holding door crasher specials and extending their hours.

Penner and Hoechsmann agree that not everyone is going to stay away from the sales south of the border, but they hope the idea will keep a few more dollars at home.

"At the end of the day we hope the big benefit is to the consumer," Hoechsmann said.

Once the day is over, Hoechsmann said he hopes the initiative will keep going in different ways. He has heard many horror stories of customers buying things in the U.S., and then having a hard time bringing them back if they are unsatisfied.

"It's how you look after your customer, is how you set yourself apart," he said. "I think it's important that we don't just stop at Black Friday.'

Penner said that supporting Cranbrook business is important, because their influence can be seen at so many events they sponsor.

"When we increase their business, they hire more employees and are able to participate and help the community," Penner said.

So far the response to the Black Friday event has far surpassed expectations. Penner said they were originally hoping for 10 to 15 businesses to participate, but their goals were smashed when more than 40 signed up.

"The response has been overwhelming," Penner said.

The Chamber has compiled a list of participating businesses on their Cranbrook Black Friday events page, which is accessible off the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce Facebook page. More information is also available by contacting the Chamber at (250) 426-5914.

See the Cranbrook Daily Townsman's special Black Friday insert in today's paper.