Newsletter: Why Black Friday shopping is still a thing and why it’s important to area stores

It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Let’s see if the Friday edition of your Dayton Business Newsletter can rouse you from a tryptophan-induced coma.

Thank you for reading this, by the way. You can reach me at (937) 681-5610 and tom.gnau@coxinc.com. You can also find me at LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

Today is the beginning of an important time for stores owners in the Dayton region. A majority of the sales they generate for the year come now through the end of the year.

Why is it important? Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 52 million working Americans, according to the National Retail Federation.

This morning, Reporter Samantha Wildow wrote that people lined up outside area stores to get deals offered on Black Friday.

Black Friday: Shoppers show support for Beavercreek Walmart

Five police cruisers sit outside the Beavercreek, Walmart on Black Friday, November 24, 2025 the store reopened after a shooting earlier in the week. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

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Many customers showed their support for the Beavercreek Walmart following a mass shooting at the store on Monday.

“I like showing my support for the store. It’s not the store’s fault what happened,” said Tim Hunley of Dayton, who said he wasn’t worried about being at the Beavercreek Walmart on Friday.

Nursing is one of the toughest professions to be in.

I’m the son of a nurse. It’s not exactly a news flash that nursing is one of the most challenging professions. But the nationwide challenges facing nurses seem to have only worsened since the pandemic.

Please read this story from Samantha Wildow.

Death of local nurse shines a light on the emotional, physical toll of the profession

Ron Smith, of Patterson Park, holds a photo of his daughter Tristin Kate Smith, 28, of Dayton, who died by suicide on Aug. 7, 2023. Smith and others have shared a letter written by Tristin that he found on her laptop after her passing, which detailed a difficult working environment in the health care industry. MARSHALL GORBY\STAFF

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Ron Smith had already gone through the devastating loss of his daughter’s death when he found a note saved on her laptop titled “A Letter to My Abuser.”

  • Tristin Kate Smith is a Dayton nurse who died by suicide on Aug. 7. She was 28.

The letter did not address a person, but instead a strained working environment, one she said left her body and mind feeling “black, bruised, and bleeding out.”

Why this matters: “I don’t think the general public realizes what these nurses go through,” said Smith.

One reason mental health challenges are real: Nurses cannot provide the care patients deserve due to severe understaffing, said Rick Lucas, president and executive director of the Ohio Nurses Association.

Whistleblower speaks out on Kettering Health investigation

Kettering Health Dayton, known years ago as Grandview Hospital, is a part of Kettering Health, which is a large health network and employer of the Dayton region. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

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Credit: JIM NOELKER

Reporters Samantha Wildow and Lynn Hulsey continue to follow the situation at Kettering Health.

  • Kettering Health officials won’t specify what changes they made in the wake of an internal investigation that found financial impropriety, even as a former governance attorney and others call for more oversight and transparency, the two reported in their most recent story this week.

“We are fully cooperating with the relevant government authorities and part of the reason that we won’t be commenting further is to allow these entities to make their further announcements at the time of their choosing,” Jimmy Phillips, vice president of marketing and communication, told the Dayton Daily News.

Why this matters: Kettering Health uncovered financial impropriety after an internal investigation into allegations of misuse of funds and operational mismanagement. The investigation revealed Kettering Health funds had been used for non-business purposes, according to the hospital network.

Kettering Health is the Dayton area’s second-biggest hospital system.

Development takes flight around Dayton International Airport

This Panattoni Development Company spec building is located Union Airpark Blvd. and Old Springfield Road near the Dayton International Airport. A tenant has not yet been announced. MARSHALL GORBY\STAFF

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From her recent series of stories on how business has bloomed around Dayton International Airport, writer Lynn Hulsey spoke with dozens of sources.

A sample: Steve Stanley, project development specialist and retired executive director at the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District

“If this employment did not occur in the first place then the opportunity for people to better themselves is so significantly diminished. This is really good for the region to have a broad range of job opportunities for people of all skills.”

Read the whole story for more.

Sheetz sues Centerville after Far Hills site rejection

((((REVISED CAPTION FOR 010123 biz sheetz:)))) Major Mid-Atlantic restaurant and convenience chain Sheetz will expand into western Ohio by opening approximately 20 locations in Dayton over the next five years. Plans are in the works for one of those locations to be at the corner of Ohio 48 and Fireside Drive in Centerville. ((((ORIGINAL CAPTION: Major Mid-Atlantic restaurant and convenience chain Sheetz will expand into western Ohio by opening approximately 20 locations in Dayton over the next five years. Sheetz said it aims to open its first Dayton store in 2024.))))

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The news broke Wednesday: Gas station and convenience store chain Sheetz, developer Skilken Gold and the owner of the Elsa’s Mexican Restaurant property are suing the city of Centerville via an administrative appeal.

The appeal, filed Tuesday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, comes four weeks after Centerville City Council voted unanimously to reject Sheetz’s plans for the 6318 Far Hills Ave. site, just north of I-675.

What happened: In the lawsuit, Sheetz says that Centerville “incorrectly reversed” the city planning commission’s approval.

Community comes to grips with shooting at Beavercreek Walmart

Beavercreek police Capt. Chad Lindsey provided an update on a mass shooting at Walmart on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

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A 20-year-old Dayton man shot and injured four people at the Beavercreek Walmart Monday night before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Beavercreek police Capt. Chad Lindsey identified the gunman as Benjamin Charles Jones in a press conference Tuesday.

Where we stand: Here’s an update on what happened. Here are thoughts from Ohio lawmakers. Here, eyewitnesses share their tales.

Quick hits

We wish him well. Fairborn city manager resigns, citing health concerns.

Cincinnati GE Aviation workers: May move to Evendale plant next year.

Is it the end of The Game as we know it? Will order and harmony be restored to the universe? I’ll let you know around 4 p.m. Saturday.

Cereal boxes fall in a massive domino chain: 900 of them, with a little help.

Should be an ace nosh-up: Outback will soon have a new Centerville location.

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