NEWS
Black Friday, Cyber Monday trends are unclear
Black Friday deals are on, but don’t forget about the biggest online shopping event of the year, Cyber Monday. Known for it’s deep discounts and site-wide deals, Cyber Monday is the day to get deals across every product category, from the comfort of your own home. Offers.com & BlackFriday.com recently conducted an in-depth survey to find data on consumer shopping trends for the holiday shopping season.
Our survey found that Cyber Monday beats out Black Friday in popularity for the second year in a row.
“With online retailers undercutting brick-and-mortar retailers (and the obvious convenience factor), online shopping is becoming increasingly compelling for shoppers. With the convenience of online shopping, shoppers are able to purchase just about anything they can imagine from the comfort of their own home and score the same deals or even better as they would in-store. Our data also shows some interesting trends when it comes to shopping both online and on mobile this holiday season.” – Howard Schaffer, GM of Offers.com.
General Cyber Monday trends:
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Cyber Monday beats out Black Friday in popularity for the second year in a row, with nearly 72% of consumers planning to shop online for Cyber Monday and only 69% shopping the traditional Black Friday sales
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Experts predict huge travel deals this Cyber Monday and Travel Deal Tuesday, with airfare deals continuing throughout the week, with some of the biggest savings after Cyber Monday.
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Cyber Monday is most popular among younger consumers. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, 88% plan to shop on Cyber Monday (compared to 74% of 35-to-54-year-olds and 52% of the 55+ crowd).
Mobile trends:
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Technology continues to play a major part of the shopping holiday with a 17% increase in mobile use in the past two years.
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Nearly three-quarters of consumers (73%) plan to use their mobile devices to assist with holiday shopping.
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Mobile use is not up from people shopping on their phones, but from consumers heavily relying on mobile devices to look for coupons, compare prices, check reviews and get directions to the store for an optimal holiday shopping experience.
Millennial trends:
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Although Cyber Monday proved to be favored more overall, Black Friday shopping garnered a surprising surge of popularity with millennials.
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Younger generations are 19% more likely than any other age group to hit the brick-and-mortar stores come Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
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As the tech generation, 88% of millennials will be shopping on Cyber Monday this year – roughly 20% more than the shoppers over 35 who plan to do so.
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Millennials are also more likely to shop for experiences this holiday season than older generations (25% vs 11%), who are more focused on physical items such as clothes and technology.
Online shopping trends:
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With online retailers undercutting brick-and-mortar retailers (and the obvious convenience factor), online shopping is becoming increasingly compelling for shoppers.
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Holiday-shopping aside, the overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (96%) shop online throughout the year. The majority (64%) do so at least monthly, up from 57% in 2016.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Retail Trends
Stores such as Target, Walmart and Kohl’s will be offering the best deals. Year after year these retailers have shown major discounts on the top items consumers are looking for such as clothing, electronics, gift cards and toys. A new player in the game is Amazon, having risen to the top spot in consumer popularity within the recent years. With Amazon providing sales on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, plus fast shipping and no lines, it’s not hard to see why the online retail giant has risen to the top.
While Black Friday is known for its deep discounts on specific products, Cyber Monday is known for its sitewide sales. Look for deals on toys, apparel and small appliances if you want to make the most of what Cyber Monday has to offer. If Black Friday is known for its electronics sales, Cyber Monday is the king of clothing. Expect site-wide sales from Kohls, JCPenney and Macy’s where you can save on your entire purchase. Because online selections tend to be bigger than in-store selections, you have more options in your size and have the chance to get up to 40% or 50% off your whole cart.
NEWS
Bowie City Council ready to finalize budget
Members of the Bowie City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Aug. 25 to finalize the budget and conduct a public hearing on a proposed tax rate.
The ordinances adopting both the 2026-27 budget and the 2026 tax rate are on the agenda for action. The public hearing on the tax rate presents a rate of .5750 cents per $100 in property value, which is slightly higher than the 2025 rate that is .5430.
The new rate is projected to generate $2,990,998, compared to $2,703,176 from last year’s rate. This is the first significant change in the rate since 2019, when it was .5445 cents. The next year it went to .5447 cents, where it stayed until 2023, when it went to .5430 cents, through 2025.
A bid will be awarded for the Rock and Pillar Street drainage project. Wall Contractors will be recommended by the city engineer and staff review. The bid came in about $1.3 million, which was lower than the estimated $2 million. It is expected to straighten the channel and get this intersection reopened for traffic after more than a year of closure to collapse of a portion of the pavement on the street.
The council will consider stop signs regulating traffic flow around the Kingdom Ridge Subdivision next to the elementary school.
In the city manager’s report Bert Cunningham will provide information on the hazard mitigation plan, the 2025-26 audit preparation and the bid for the Rock and Pillar project.
NEWS
Commissioners to consider budget, tax rate
Montague County Commissioners will adopt a budget and tax rate when they meet at on Aug. 24 in the courthouse annex.
The budget hearing will be at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 24, followed by a public hearing for the proposed tax rate at 8:45 a.m.
During the regular meeting at 9 a.m., there will be one final budget workshop for any last minute tweaks or changes, followed by adoption of the 2026-27 budget and 2026 tax rate.
The proposed tax rate is .4961 cents per $100 in property value, which is the same rate as 2025. Due to the increase in property values despite the same rate, the total tax levy on all properties will see a 3.64% increase.
A copy of the proposed budget is available on the county website at https://www.co.montague.tx.us/.
Several other financial related items are on the agenda. Accumulated comp time in the sheriff office and jail will be discussed. The commissioners also will consider any year-end expenditures utilizing any or the budget year contingency funds.
Other items on the agenda will include: Acceptance of the District Attorney’s 2023- 2024 and 2025 Chapter 59 asset forfeiture reports and authorize DA Katie Boggeman to sign them; imposition of optional fees from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for 2027; House Bill 3834 cybersecurity and AI training certification for state and local governments compliance reports; interlocal cooperation agreement between the Department of Public Safety and the county court and district court; review the sherif office application for sheriff immigration law enforcement grant program Senate Bill 8; consider distribution of state grant HB 3000; and consider using Real Estate Station LLC Agent Denise Thurman to sell 5.9 acres on the corner of U.S. 81 and State Highway 59.
NEWS
Heat taking its toll on lakes, no rain since June
It should be no surprise, the month of July is recorded as the hottest month on record for the country.
July wrapped up with seven straight days of 100 degrees or higher July 25-31. August also opened hot with the first 100-plus degree day on Aug. 3 and it has topped that marked through Aug. 19. On Tuesday the high was 107 degrees at the water plant, but in town thermometers recorded 108 and 109 degrees.It was expected to top that mark on Wednesday.
There was no rainfall recorded in July or in August. Bowie has only 21.71 inches for the year so far and Nocona has 22.35 inches.
Lake Amon Carter
Aug. 19 –
917.22 msl, 80.2% full
July 19 – 918.10 msl, 86.1%
Aug. 19, 2025 – 919.84 msl, 98.8% full
Lake is full at 920msl
Lake Nocona
Aug. 19 – 823.48 msl, 76.3% full
July 19 – 824.41 msl, 81.05%
Aug. 19, 2025 – 826.878 msl, 95.85%
Lake full at 827.5msl
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