Black Friday 2011 Sets New Retail Sales Record

[dkf]

CHICAGO, Nov. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Retailers can breathe a sigh of relief. The holiday shopping season started strong, with bigger crowds spending more dollars than ever before.

According to ShopperTrak — the world's largest provider of retail and mall foot-traffic counting services — Black Friday sales increased 6.6 percent over the same day last year. This represents $11.40 billion in retail purchases and the biggest dollar amount ever spent during the day. Retail foot-traffic rose accordingly, increasing by 5.1 percent over Black Friday 2010.

"Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year and the traditional start to the holiday shopping season," said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin. "Despite our sluggish economy, shoppers proved they are looking for value and ready to buy if given a good customer experience. 

"This is the largest year-over-year gain in ShopperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate for Black Friday since the 8.3 percent increase we saw between 2007 and 2006. Still, it's just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season."



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/26/4081335/black-friday-2011-sets-new-retail.html#ixzz1etHd4rsl

[phasma ex machina]

1. Seems like a banner year for Black Friday assault and battery.

FYI: the original "Black Friday" occurred in 1869 when a mob threatened to decorate lampposts with hanging banksters.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. To be revised on Monday

No serious...this pattern of great sales on Friday, revised on Monday has held for a few years now.

[hobbit709]

3. You got it.

Every Black Friday sets a record, then a few days later the real figures are quietly released.
And nobody got any of my money on Friday, I didn't even go to the grocery.

[ellisonz]

4. Time to kick the Annual War on Christmas up a notch ...

:nuke:

[Selatius]

5. It may have been good, but unemployment is still terrible.

I don't expect it to last once the bills and the fear of losing a job takes hold once again.

[WolverineDG]

12. Well, if Black Friday put retailers in the black,

they'll be able to keep people on the payrolls & might even be able to hire more.

dg

[Itchinjim]

6. Well once again I see that pessimism never rests at DU

[TalkingDog]

8. History + Pragmatism do not = Pessimism

Are you one of those people (like my mother in law - true story) who, when discussing a post-football victory riot, suggests the rioters are merely celebrating?

Ya know, maybe Sandusky really was just "horsing around" in the showers with those underage boys.

[Itchinjim]

9. My comment = dismissing rioting and child molestation?!

Good lord, that's a bit of a reach, don't you think?

[Chimichurri]

7. They opened an entire day earlier and sales were up only 5.1%. Don't believe the hype.

[FarCenter]

13. I doubt that they have adjusted for the number of hours that stores were open

So the "up 6.6%" may reflect longer hours.

You also need to adjust for inflation, which is probably about half of the increase.

In any case, consumers running up debt on their credit cards in a poor economy is not a cause for cheer.

[global1]

10. I Don't Get It.....

We're supposed to be in hard economic times. High unemployment. Foreclosures. 99%ere being cheated by the banksters & Wall St gang. Middle class disappearing . Poverty. Starving kids. Rampant homelessness. And Black Friday set a record? Who did All this buying the 1%ers? Are we really in hard economic times or is the MSM telling us this just to make Obama a one term President.

[Major Hogwash]

11. Well, they did it without me because I refuse to participate in that kind of crap.

Plus the fact that I was too "turkeyed out" to shop on Friday.
Swear to gawd, I can't believe how fast turkey can put me to sleep these days.