Posted on 11/29/2009 1:45:45 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
US Shoppers Spent Less Over Black Friday: NRF
US, RETAIL, ECONOMY, SHOPPERS, SHOPPING, BLACK FRIDAY, TARGET, WAL-MART, GAP, SAKS
Reuters | 29 Nov 2009 | 03:41 PM ET
American consumers shopped more for bargains at the start of the U.S. holiday season and spent significantly less than a year ago, according to early data released on Sunday.
Consumers said they will have spent nearly 8 percent less on average, or about $343 per person, over the weekend that includes U.S. Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and runs through Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation.
While traffic to stores and retail websites rose to 195 million people from 172 million in 2008, the early data this weekend represents a worrisome sign for retailers, who had braced for weak sales and sought ways to protect margins.
Data released by ShopperTrak on Saturday showed that sales rose a scant 0.5 percent on Black Friday, which is often the single busiest day of the holiday shopping season.
"Shoppers proved this weekend that they were willing to open their wallets for a bargain," NRF Chief Executive Tracy Mullin said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
LOL
The media on the day was reporting how sales were great etc.
The media cannot help but push their agenda and help bozo look good.
Fact is we should be out of this recession but we’re not because bozo is not concentrating on jobs but instead Govt take over of health care which the majority do not want.
They report the GDP is over 3% but then it comes out it was not . That growth was all down to a short term cash for clunkers which still many car sale places are waiting for their money from the Govt and this extension for home buyers.
Now imagine if the unemployment was not extended.Sales would be down even more than it is now because many would be looking at living in a tent
I am SHOCKED I tell you, SHOCKED... hey someone had to say it.
Hopefully it’s true. I read all these stories about people buying new tv sets, and it made me think people still don’t get it. We’ve got household debt, corporate debt, and government debt all completely out of control, and you need a spiffy new tv set?
We’re about thirty Christmas trees behind pace this same time last year. More than the economy, it’s the weather. No snow yet and mild temps are leading people to the ‘Cut Your Own’ tree farms right now.
However, we made our sales goals this entire week, and I had a number of customers spending hundreds of dollars at a crack for fresh greenery, roping, garland, wreaths, etc. I did two porch-pot arrangements (beside your entry door) for a customer this weekend and she didn’t flinch when I told her to total was $250.00. (They really are beautiful!)
People who still have their jobs (and I’m one of them) don’t have any less money yet; they’re just holding on to it tighter this season, waiting until the last minute to spend.
That, and the fact that we in Retail have TRAINED consumers to shop late in the season and to EXPECT deep discounts. A pretty stupid strategy, if you ask me...but no one’s askin’, LOL!
Priorities, dude.
And Oprah be looking good on my new 'tube......
How about they spent less because every thing was going for cheap!
Wasn’t last year reported as dismal? Yesterday they tried to report things as good, but really it was dismal minus 8%. Follow-ups won’t improve this much; it’s not his MO. Widely report the best lie you can, bury the follow-up truth when it comes out and move on to the next lie. That’s BO’s MO, same as Clinton’s. Bush’s was different. He low balled everything, scared to death the media would accuse him of lying with his initial data releases. The media just laughed, buried the good follow-up reports and killed him with his own low-balled numbers. Somebody really should do a rigorous statistical analysis comparing initially released economic data vs. the final numbers, back at least through Clinton’s 1st term. The differences between initial and final numbers can not be randomly distributed and may imply something about how much closer to the truth the initial numbers could and should be.
You're right. All I heard from the local (Obama supporting) channels was that there was heavy traffic in the stores. They were clearly cheerleading for a good shopping day instead of focusing on the realities of rising unemployment and a horrible economy.
lol. I just take it as a sign that people still don’t get it. That we aren’t in debt enough yet.
I was at the mall on Friday and it was freaking empty compared to the Bush years, when unemployment was at %5.
The only winners are China, Saudi Arabia, and credit card companies. Atlas shopped.
That would explain the 6 month lead in time for seasonal sales, to make up for the last minute discounts.
Christmas started halfway in Oct this year.
What impact did Cash for Clunkers have on holiday spending? Nearly 700,000 people traded in clunkers. Most of these were probably paid for. Registration and insurance was probably minimal. All of a sudden, in September and October, these people are getting insurance, tax, and installment bills. It’s the law of unintended consequences.
I believe it.
My co-worker just bought TWO flat-screen TVs for $600 a pop. She and her husband can never agree on what to watch, so they watch in separate rooms, LOL! She got her tax return, so she spent it! You know; the money she’d given the Government to use, interest free for the past year?
*Rolleyes*
This is the same one who spent $6K on a trip to Belize in the rainy season last year; did nothing but complain when she came back. Had a pacemaker/defib put in this past summer, so her health is not all it should be. Her husband has the same health issues; he’s barley hanging on to his job. She’s just turned 60 and if she loses this job, they’re screwed!
Condo mortgage (SIXTY, tenuously employed AND a mortgage? My worst nightmare), credit cards maxed. I try to do what I can but she’s hopeless. And, of course, she voted for Zero, LOL!
So, yes. They’re clueless. They’re out there. And it’s going to take a MAJOR economic crisis that effects them right this minute and puts them immediatley into poverty to get their attention. (Losing half of her retirement savings hasn’t seemed to bother her, either. She says, “It’ll come back.”)
I just don’t get it!
(Ping to the list, CSM.)
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