Black Friday draws crowds, but spending in doubt | Reuters

Reuters – Retailers were hoping for more shoppers like Shawn Elzia as the annual Black Friday bargain stampede marked the unofficial start of what is widely expected to be a middling holiday shopping season.

The Brooklyn, New York teacher, one of hundreds of thousands of shoppers jostling for deals around the country, said he ended up spending about 25 percent more than he planned, even while worrying about the state of the economy.

“I did not expect such deals,” the 33-year old said as he left a Macy’s store in Jersey City, New Jersey clutching bags full of clothing for himself and his family.

“It’s slashed down to the bones,” he said. “There were some great discounts if you showed up early.”

Deals are always part of the picture on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year was notable for an earlier opening for some retailers and possibly for the one shopper using pepper spray to make sure she could get a popular video game system.

The early start by stores brought out younger shoppers such as Alina Ybarra, who spent the wee hours of the morning with her friends as they all looked for items for themselves.

“It’s really chaotic,” Ybarra, 17, said of her first Black Friday outing as she finished her shopping in Santa Monica, California. She said that she liked the deals at stores such as Gap Inc‘s Old Navy and Urban Outfitters.

“It seems like a lot of teenagers were the primary shoppers, maybe because of the hour, but I think net-net it’s not really going to result in an incremental positive for retailers,” Ed Yruma, senior equity analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, said after checking out crowds at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. He said shoppers were not carrying a lot of shopping bags.

via Black Friday draws crowds, but spending in doubt | Reuters.

Strange Random Shopping Quote:

“If you think the United States has stood still, who built the largest shopping center in the world?” – Richard M. Nixon (37th US President (1969-74), 1913-1994)

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Black Friday Ipod Deals Show Stores Bowing to Buyers: Retail – Businessweek

Nov. 23 Bloomberg — Every Black Friday, there’s a staring contest between retailers and shoppers over price. This year, the stores may have blinked first.

Chains such as Toys “R” Us Inc. and Gap Inc. are opening earlier and offering more markdowns than ever on the day after Thanksgiving, said Mary Delk, a director at Deloitte Consulting. The result may be higher sales and lower profits for retailers over the holiday season.

“Consumer anxiety has resulted in a frenzy among retailers to compete for market share,” said Delk, who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The inducements and deals are bigger and bolder.”

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is promoting a two-piece boys’ sleep set featuring Disney characters for $4.47. J.C. Penney Co. will sell $18.88 digital music players and $30 kids’ camcorders. Black Friday shoppers who visit a Sears Holdings Corp. store will receive a coupon book with more than $3,000 in discounts.

Retailers are pouring on the discounts to attract consumers grappling with 9 percent unemployment and a slower U.S. economic expansion than previously estimated. Third-quarter gross domestic product climbed at a 2 percent annual rate, down from a prior estimate of 2.5 percent growth, the Commerce Department reported yesterday in Washington.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, grew at a 2.3 percent annual rate, little changed from the 2.4 percent initial estimate.

via Black Friday Ipod Deals Show Stores Bowing to Buyers: Retail – Businessweek.

Strange Random Consumer Quote:

“Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves.” – Herbert Hoover

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