TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- Black Friday is a day of deals and low prices.
It's also a time for retailers to hire temporary help to deal with the additional customers for that day and the remainder of the holiday shopping season.
"We like to have one-on-one customer service with our employee-customer relations, so the more you have, the better you are to provide that service," said John Goreman, the store manager at J.C. Penney in Tupelo.
Goreman says 116 employees will be working at the store on Black Friday with 30 of them specifically hired for the holiday season.
J.C. Penney is not the only business hiring extra holiday employees. So is Chick-fil-A at its standalone location in Tupelo.
"We've been stocking up on employees and product and making sure it goes as smoothly as possible during Friday," said Ricky Murphy, the Chick-fil-A general manager.
Sarah Childers is a student at Mississippi State University. She worked at the restaurant in high school and is now considered a temporary/seasonal employee.
"When I went away to college, I knew that I would need some money and need something to do when I came home on weekends and holidays, and so I asked if they would still be interested in having me, and they do. So whenever I have a chance to work, I do whatever I can," said Childers.
Chick-fil-A said it doesn't know just how many additional workers were hired for the holidays, but the restaurant and J.C. Penney plan on giving almost all the new employees a chance to stay on after the holidays.
