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GREENSBORO - Retailers may be offering steep discounts for Black Friday, but Kathy Clark knows she'll be able to beat their prices.

Everything at the Friday event she's helping to organize will be free.

Yes, really. All of it. Free.

Clark is one of the organizers for the Really, Really Free Market hosted by The HIVE, a nonprofit community center in the Glenwood neighbor-

hood.

Picture it as a large, multifamily yard sale with no price tags.

"If people have stuff that they don't want or need anymore, they bring it and leave it," Clark said. "They look over stuff other people have brought and left. If you like it, get it."

The center held a free market earlier this year that drew a few dozen people and even more stuff, Clark said.

"People brought clothes, books, records, toys, children's clothing, some furnishings like shelves and chairs and there were some electronics," Clark said.

Even if visitors don't have anything to bring, they're still welcome to come, browse and take, she said.

"Last time, I brought several boxes of stuff and I walked away with a book and a pair of socks and I was happy with that."

For Friday's event, organizers also plan to have "skillsharing," where people volunteer to teach a skill to anyone interested in learning.

"Hopefully, people will walk away knowing how to do more stuff," Clark said.

The Really, Really Free Market is part of Buy Nothing Day, an international movement that encourages people to scale back their spending and consume less. It's promoted by the Canadian magazine Adbusters.

"Our natural resources are dwindling, our financial resources are dwindling and we have to rethink our consumption in America," Clark said. "This is one way of approaching a solution for your clothing needs and furnishing needs instead of going out and overextending ourselves financially."

Hosting the market on the day known for shopping indulgence wasn't a coincidence.

Black Friday is typically one of the largest shopping days of the year, Clark said.

"The roadways get clogged with traffic and shopping centers are clogged with people and it's a grouchy, unpleasant day for people," she said. "Some people do a kamikaze shopping day and it's great. For people who don't want to participate in that, we wanted to give an alternative to the shopping."

Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lanita.withers @news-record.com