Black Friday Crowds Grab Discounted Flat-Panel TVs, Computers
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Retailers reported “strong”shopper traffic on Black Friday as discounts on televisions,toys and computers drew budget-conscious crowds across the U.S.,the National Retail Federation said.
High-definition TVs, laptops, Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamstersand winter coats were among the most popular items, according tothe federation, a Washington-based trade group. Sales advanced0.5 percent to $10.7 billion, ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm, said yesterday in a statement.
Wal-Mart Stores inc., the world’s largest retailer, drewcrowds with $298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computers and otherspecials that went on sale at 5 a.m. best buy inc., the biggestelectronics chain, used $547.99 42-inch Samsung flat-panel TVsto lure shoppers grappling with the highest unemployment in 26years. the retailer had bigger early-morning crowds than lastyear, Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn said.
“The surprise news is that they are actually buying forthemselves as well, due to pent-up demand and frugal fatigue,”Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group inc. saidin a Bloomberg Television interview Nov. 27. “They are saying‘Let’s loosen up the purse strings a little bit,’ but it isstill cautious spending.” NPD, based in Port Washington, NewYork, is a market research firm.
Holiday Shopping Prediction
The day after U.S. Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday,the traditional beginning of holiday buying. Explanations of thephrase’s origins differ, one holding that it’s the weekend whenretailers go to being in the black, profitable for the year.Stores open early on Black Friday and offer early-bird discountsto attract business.
A 4.9 percent sales decrease in the northeast counteredgains in other regions, according to ShopperTrak. Consumertraffic was heavy throughout the country, the research firm,which plans to release store-visit figures in the next few days.
“We’ve seen a gradual retail sales increase over the lasttwo weeks and with Black Friday’s performance, it looks likeNovember will be a positive month for retailers,” Bill Martin,a ShopperTrak co-founder, said in the statement. “The 1.6percent increase we originally predicted for the holiday seasonremains intact.”
Retailers’ chief marketing officers predicted Black Fridaysales would climb an average 1.8 percent from a year ago attheir own stores, according to a survey conducted by BDO SeidmanLLP in October. Ninety-six of 100 executives said they wouldincrease promotions this year, offering the biggest discounts onconsumer electronics.
Discounts on TVs
“Retailers in all sectors have reported strong crowds,”according to an NRF statement Nov. 27.
Walmart fell 33 cents to $54.63 on Nov. 27 in new YorkStock Exchange composite trading. Richfield, Minnesota-basedBest buy lost 43 cents to $42.83.
There seemed to be more discounts on TVs this year, andshoppers were snapping them up, said Charles O’Shea, a new York-based retail analyst with Moody’s Investors Service. In the fourhours he spent checking retailers in northern new Jersey, he sawseveral shoppers standing at bus stops holding flat-panel sets.
“It looks like everybody has caught the promotional bug,”O’Shea said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.
The lines in front of best buy stores were longer and thecompany’s Web site attracted more visitors than in 2008, BestBuy’s Dunn said.
“Those are both directionally important indicators forus,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Samir Patel arrived at noon on Thanksgiving Day with hisbrother and cousin to claim the No. 1 spot in line at best Buyin Jersey City, new Jersey. the 26-year-old, who has beenunemployed since he graduated with a master’s degree in may, waswaiting to buy a Sony Vaio laptop for $399.99 when the storeopened at 5:30 a.m. the next day.
“It’s the best deal for a laptop this year,” he said.”There’s a minimum of 10 in the store.”
Liberty Media Corp.’s QVC shopping channel said it had morethan $32 million in sales Nov. 27, its best-ever Black Friday,and a 60 percent increase from last year. the previous recordwas $22.3 million in November 2006, said Doug Rose, vicepresident of programming and marketing at QVC.
Holiday sales make up a third or more of retailers’ annualprofit. the International Council of Shopping Centers, a tradegroup, predicted sales at stores open at least a year willadvance 1 percent in November and December after a year-earlier5.8 percent decline, the worst in 40 years.
‘More Traffic’
“There’s a little more traffic than last year across theboard, maybe 10 percent,” Bill Taubman, chief operating officerof Taubman Centers inc., a U.S. real estate investment trustwith 24 malls, said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.
Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, kept stores openall night so shoppers could grab items when they went on sale at5 a.m. the world’s largest retailer cut some toy prices to $5.
Toys “R” Us, based in Wayne, new Jersey, had an averageof 1,000 people outside its stores before they opened atmidnight, five hours earlier than last year, said Chairman andCEO Jerry Storch. the chains sold a “significant number” ofApple inc. iPods and tens of thousands of Zhu Zhu Pets robothamsters, he said.
“The last thing parents will cut back on is toys for theirkids,” Storch said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.
J.C. Penney, Macy’s
Black Friday shopping at J.C. Penney co. stores was strongthroughout the U.S., the Plano, Texas-based retailer said in ane-mailed statement yesterday.
J.C. Penney, which plans to report November sales on Dec.3, fell $1.07 to $29.57 on Nov. 27 on the new York StockExchange.
At the Macy’s inc. store in new York’s Herald Square,shopper traffic appeared greater than a year ago, and continuedto flow in after the initial rush, Macy’s Chairman and CEO TerryLundgren said. Housewares and jewelry were selling “briskly,”he said.
“Last year we were just getting rid of the inventory webought six months before,” Lundgren said. “This year we’ve hada year to think through what is the sales trend.”
Macy’s, based in Cincinnati, dropped 59 cents to $16.97 onNov. 27 on the new York Stock Exchange.
Promotions are shaping up to be less haphazard than lastyear when conditions were “downright dysfunctional” after thefinancial crisis forced retailers to clear out goods, RichardHastings, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based consumer strategistfor Global Hunter Securities LLC, said Nov. 27 in an e-mail.
After this weekend, sales may slip into a lull until mid-December when retailers push out more discounts, Hastings said.
“The season has a long way to go,” Hastings said.
To contact the reporters on this story:Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net;Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 1348 or cburritt@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 29, 2009 00:00 EST
Traditionally, holiday shoppers invade stores the Friday after Thanksgiving, a day known as Black Friday, then hit the Internet to shop a few days later on what has come to be known as Cyber Monday.
the pajamas and sleepwear store, SleepyHeads.com (sleepyheads.com), has just announced a 40% discount on all SleepyHeads and Frankie and Johnny products on Black Friday. the Black Friday offer will be running only on November 27, 2009. Using the promo code, ‘FJ40 or SH40′. Sleepyheads.com is also offering a 30% store wide discount applicable only on Black Friday with the promotion code ‘BLACKFRIDAY’. only one coupon may be used per order.
although the recession may be over, Santa could still have a light load to carry this Christmas.
the pajamas and sleepwear store, SleepyHeads.com (sleepyheads.com), has just announced a 40% discount on all SleepyHeads and Frankie and Johnny products on Black Friday. the Black Friday offer will be running only on November 27, 2009. using the promo code, ‘FJ40 or SH40′. Sleepyheads.com is also offering a 30% store wide discount applicable only on Black Friday with the promotion code ‘BLACKFRIDAY’. Only one coupon may be used per order.
Retailer Amazon.com this week held discounted pricing for several top game titles for Sony Corp.’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 in a post-Black Friday sale.
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