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November 29, 2008
Shoppers Spent $10.6 Billion – Up 3% From Last Year
Posted by Tina
Black Friday wasn't as bleak as was feared but with deeply discounted prices retailers are still concerned this year:
“Early data shows strong Black Friday,” by Ashley M. Heher - AP
* CHICAGO – The holiday shopping season got off to a surprisingly solid start, according to data released Saturday by a research firm. But the sales boost during the post-Thanksgiving shopathon came at the expense of profits as the nation's retailers had to slash prices to attract the crowds in a season that is expected to be the weakest in decades. *** Across the country, sales in the South were up 3.4 percent from last year while they climbed 2.6 percent in the Northeast as shoppers began scouring store aisles at midnight hoping to snag the best selection on early morning specials, some as much as 70 percent off. Elsewhere, sales rose 3 percent in the Midwest and 2.7 percent in the West. *
Posted by Post Scripts at November 29, 2008 10:08 PM
Comments
Profit is what counts, so I guess we really can't infer anything from a "solid start" if they don't have profits.
It's like the old joke where the guys says, you are selling everything in your store at or below cost? And the business owner says, yeah, but I make it up on volume.
Posted by: Jack | November 30, 2008 10:02 AM
Great joke...one we're fond of repeating.
Up 3% in the mid-west isn't that where all the car companies are doing so poorly? Go figure.
The key word in this story is probably "surprise". Some were afraid that black Friday would be marked only by the occassional taco wrapper blowing playfully in the autumnal breezes. Picture this: lonely specialty shopowners drinking mulled wine, bored mall employees biting their nails, electronics store gurus, sans shoppers, competing only for number of TV screens flickering college football, and lonely bell ringers shivering in the cold ...you know, kinda like it used to be in the "olden days".
In 1968 we were staying with parents for Thanksgiving and the built-in-babysitter factor sent us off to the newest thing...Toys-R-Us. The store was virtually empty the entire time we were there. We had a great time shopping and repeated the tradition for years until it got to be rediculous.
Posted by: Tina | November 30, 2008 12:22 PM