“It is slow, slow, slow,” said Rankins, 26, who lives in Ferguson. “I hope it picks up.”

The Target sat near the scene of intense protests and fiery riots that followed a grand jury’s decision last Monday to not indict a white Ferguson police officer for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August. Almost two dozen businesses nearby were torched or looted. Target’s parking lot had been turned into a staging ground for police. Now, the shopping plaza’s prime parking spaces were open, TV satellite trucks sat moored off to one side and police cruisers looped the lot in endless circuits.

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The destructive protests here may be over, for now, but the damaging economic fallout has continued. This was easy to see on Black Friday, the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season, a brief period of a few weeks when the retail industry expects to make 20 to 30 percent of its annual sales, according to the National Retail Foundation.

Many stores here were closed. And the ones that managed to open suffered from their proximity to the unrest. At a Toys R Us, where workers outnumbered customers at one point, an entire aisle for Disney Frozen and princess dresses and toys appeared untouched.

Protesters have been pushing a campaign in recent days under the banners “Boycott Black Friday” and “Not One Dime,” encouraging shoppers to keep their wallets and pocketbooks closed to send a message about the grand jury’s decision.

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“People have definitely been scared off,” said Patricia Bynes, a Democratic committeewoman for Ferguson Township. Residents have been trying to avoid running into turmoil from any potential clashes between protesters and police.

Any discussion of Black Friday can seem trivial given Ferguson’s symbolism worldwide as the epicenter of a burgeoning protest movement. But the small city is also a place of shops and small businesses, schools and a library. Sales tax revenue is down by six percent from August to October, with steeper declines expected this month. Former mayor Brian Fletcher estimated that 1,500 local jobs would be hit through layoffs and reduced hours. He blamed protesters for the local economic damage.

“You have to understand that no business owner here shot Michael Brown,” Fletcher said.

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At Catwalk Fashions, manager Maya Washington said she couldn’t believe the destruction just down the street, where the carcasses of several burned-out cars finally were being hauled away. Several nearby stores were still boarded up or burned down.

“These protesters are putting so many people out of a job,” said Washington, who supports the protesters’ message of wanting justice.

She said her store was black-owned, and she hoped that might bring a measure of protection. Still, when the demonstrations flared up on nearby streets, she and workers from other stores in the small plaza stood on the sidewalk and stared down anyone who might want to approach the line of plate-glass shop windows.

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The Ferguson Wal-Mart Superstore, which suffered looting, was unable to open Thursday. It finally reopened Friday morning. The few shoppers there at 8 a.m. were told there were “no sale items,” and many turned away. An assistant manager said staff didn’t have time to set up sale items. Police patrolled the parking lot and private security guards were posted inside the store. A handful of protesters, including members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, were told to leave the parking lot. They stood at the lot’s entrance with signs that said “No Shopping As Usual Black Lives Matter Friday.”

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Protesters made their case at other shopping places Friday, demonstrating outside nearby Wal-Marts and chanting inside two suburban malls several miles from Ferguson. At the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights, the protest reached the point that police ordered shoppers to leave. Stores closed their doors and rolled-down overhead gates. But the protesters soon moved on, and the mall reopened.

The Target where Rankins works was closed on Thursday, losing out on the day’s usual 6 pm. “door buster” rush. Staff honored the deals on Friday instead. But the lure of $19 Razor scooters and $328 40-inch LED TVs were not enough. Manager Brian Leas said the store had managed to never miss a day during the continued protests, only closing early a few times, before Thursday. He looked forward to calm for his 120 employees.

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“I just want to get back to business as usual,” Lea said.

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Rankins said she supported the protests but couldn’t understand the destruction around her. If Target closed, she’d be out of a job and the neighborhood would have one less place to shop for clothes and food.

“We need this here,” Rankins said. “Everyone over here needs this.”

The only place that bustled Friday was the “I (heart) Ferguson” store.

The store was the idea of Fletcher, the former mayor. Last month, the nonprofit group took over the former storefront of a computer repair shop. They started off selling $2 “I (heart) Ferguson” yard signs. They have expanded to $3 beer can koozies, $10 T-shirts and $50 jackets emblazoned with the loving slogan.

Actually, those jackets were now $10 off.

“Black Friday special?” someone asked.

“Yes,” Fletcher said, “it’s our own Black Friday deal.”