Black Friday sales suggest longer stay in red

[FarCenter]

By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York and Jonathan Birchall in Niles, Ohio

November 29 2008 -- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da69faf6-bd87-11dd-bba1-0000779fd18c.html

Hassan, whose pretzel cart has sat outside the Disney store on New York’s Fifth Avenue for almost 10 years, had never seen a Black Friday like it.

“Last year, I sold almost 1,000 breads. This year it’s only 100 or 150,” he said.

Up the road by FAO Schwarz, the queue stretched half way along the toy store. “Usually it’s all the way around the block,” said Ariel, manning a stand selling fluorescent paintings of nearby landmarks, who estimated his own sales were down 70 per cent.

...

The thin crowds allowed tourists to take photographs of each other posing in front of Tiffany & Co’s fir-lined windows and Bergdorf Goodman’s display of boxing polar bears without the inconvenience of having to wait for other shoppers to pass. Tiffany’s main floor was unusually calm.

Janet Hoffman, managing partner at Accenture’s North American retail consultancy, said that initial reports from around the country suggested that shoppers were focusing on basic items rather than luxuries, and were hunting out discounts.

...

[LSdemocrat]

1. At the newish, mid-upper range mall today . . . not terribly busy

Nowhere near the crowds you'd expect for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Short lines at checkout, only mild difficulty getting a parking spot.

About 1-2 years ago, this would just be an ordinary busy weekend, but this was nowhere near holiday rush levels.

[Old Codger]

2. I wonder

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_bi_ge/holiday_shopping

[Dis Pater]

3. Early data shows strong Black Friday shopping

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOLIDAY_SHOPPING?SITE=TNKNN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Nov 29, 9:26 PM EST

Early data shows strong Black Friday shopping

By ASHLEY M. HEHER


CHICAGO (AP) -- 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.

Sales during the day after Thanksgiving rose 3 percent to $10.6 billion, according to preliminary figures released Saturday by ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets. Last year, shoppers spent about $10.3 billion on the day after Thanksgiving, dubbed Black Friday because it was historically the sales-packed day when retailers would become profitable for the year.

But this year, many observers were expecting consumers to spend more time browsing than buying, amid contractions in consumer spending and growing fears about economic uncertainty and trouble in the global financial markets.

"Under these circumstances, it's truly amazing when you think about all the news that led into the holiday season, it certainly appears that consumers are willing to spend more than most expected," said ShopperTrak co-founder Bill Martin. "Everybody wants value for their dollar, so we saw a tremendous response to the discounts."

[marmar]

4. Strong compared to last year, which was very weak......

..... and reports are that today, it completely fell off a cliff. People went out on Black Friday, and that was it.

[Dis Pater]

5. ...

[marmar]

6. Today, as in Saturday after Black Friday.....

n/t

[Dis Pater]

7. "...last year, which was very weak..."