It sounds like the holiday season of excessive consumerism got off to a better-than expected start from the retailers’ point of view. From an AP story:
According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.[...]
In an apparent sign of desperation, the nation’s stores ushered in the official start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with expanded hours, including midnight openings, and a blitz of early morning specials that were more generous than a year ago. J.C. Penney and Kohl’s Corp. (KSS) opened at 4 a.m., an hour earlier than a year ago.
The strategy appears to have worked, as shoppers jammed stores in record numbers for early morning deals on Friday. Martin noted that judging by the strong figures on Friday, stores were able to sustain strong sales throughout the day. He said he’s counting on strong traffic throughout the weekend as many stores, including Macy’s Inc. (M), are continuing with special deals.
I must admit that the craziness of Black Friday is somewhat lost on me. Sure, I skimmed through some of the promotions….but is the potential to gamble on getting one of a limited supply of loss-leader trinkets really worth braving the hordes early on a 4-day weekend morning?
