Shoppers spent less over Black Friday weekend

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Reuters

By Nicole Maestri

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - 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 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.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/smallBusinessTopNews/idUSTRE5AP0M420091129

---

FULL 2 page story at link.

[rocktivity]

1. $343 is about what I spent on a refrigerator yesterday

Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on replacing my refrigerator yesterday--so no Christmas present buying for me...

:(
rocktivity

[Marthe48]

6. that's a shame

hope your holiday season bounces back, somehow

[rocktivity]

36. I suppose there's a bright side

By having to replace it this week, I'll be helping the economy by boosting Black Friday sales. And I'm sure my nieghborhood bodegas and liquor store appreciate the extra income from the bags of ice I've had to buy.

;)
rockivity

[ooglymoogly]

23. Well a brand new fridg is a good present for the entire

family. Put a big red bow on it and print up some important looking shares from the internet and present them to the family on Christmas letting them know they all own a share in this vital purchase. Anyway find a way to have a happy Christmas. If nothing else, you have the thoughts and prayers of the entire DU to keep you company over the holidays. Thats a blessing; At least for me it is.

[rocktivity]

33. LOL, that's a fabulous idea!

:rofl:
rocktivity

[totodeinhere]

2. Hopefully someday we will get to the point where we will realize that Christmas is not about how...

much money we spend. Instead, Christmas should be about peace and goodwill. Wow, what a concept!

[pattmarty]

4. I totally agree with you, but that time has long gone. I remember when............

..............I was young in the 50's and Christmas meant something, now it's greed and swearing in crowded malls.

[bulloney]

7. Amen, totodeinhere.

Black Friday is a microcosm of America's ignorance. We're so obsessed with the materialism that has evolved with the Christmas season that we have bastardized Thanksgiving into the eve of the Christmas shopping season. We gather in front of stores and storm the places like starved-crazed animals to get some materialistic item that the MSM gerbils tell us we must have this year. The ability to afford to purchase such items becomes an afterthought in the process.

Ironically, we do this during the season in which Christians allegedly honor the birth of their savior.

It's sickening when you think about it.

[endless october]

3. wow, no kidding.

it's like we shipped out most of their jobs or something.

way to plan ahead, corporate America. your shit is cheap now, but no one can afford it.

[loudsue]

13. It's cheap shit no matter how much it costs. It's just a bunch of crap not worth spending $$ on.

It makes me sick to see the fabrics they use to make clothes, and the shoes all look like they have cardboard soles....no arches, no design/engineering, just crappy shit. Mechanical items are crappy shit, clothes, furniture. Everything.

[endless october]

26. another thing that bothers me

is that it seems like i can't get a single article of clothing that isn't made in a sweat shop somewhere.

even if you pay $100 for a shirt, it's still made in China.

imagine how much better our economy would be if we even just brought clothes manufacturing / textiles back here.

[unabelladonna]

31. i've just about given up trying to find "made in the USA"

i buy alot of jcrew and i've found the quality of their cashmere and silk is fairly decent but they're made in china (or sometimes hong kong). there are some cottage industry types of designers of women's apparel (like cynthia ashby and krista larson whose clothes are all designed and made here...you can't find any of it in department stores. the clothes are a bit pricy but i feel better if i support small businesses here. you can even order online. sorry if i'm babbling.

[Marthe48]

5. So does corporate US think money grows on trees?

Jobs exported, rising utilities, inflation --and I don't care what the government says, there's inflation-- health benefits cancelled by companies who promised coverage in lieu of raises, does anyone really think that the 1% rich can sustain the whole economy? I read a long time ago that capitalism relied on creating and fulfilling needs and would fail if people stopped buying. Well, shopping is the great American hobby, and I'm sure we'd all buy IF WE HAD MONEY! But we don't, so economy bye, bye. Way to destroy the middle class, morons.

[bulloney]

9. For years I debated against free-market economists who could never connect the dots.

These glorified idiots would proclaim that the outsourcing of good-paying manufacturing jobs to Mexico, then China and India are good for the economy because they can produce consumer items more cheaply, making them more affordable to American consumers.

What good are cheaper prices when your $20/hour job becomes a series of part-time jobs that don't earn you as much as the one job you lost? Or worse yet, if you're unemployed? Or have become homeless?

[Marthe48]

24. and who knew quality would be left out of the equation?

The countries who got American manufacturing jobs don't seem to understand that light bulbs should work more than once, for instance. And since many Americans are int he spot you describe, value for the money is even more important, but less possible.

[unabelladonna]

32. i remember the nafta, free trade BS

you've got to admit ross perot was right gore was just a corporate shill.

[Grateful for Hope]

8. This news has come far sooner than in previous years. n/t

[Eric68601]

10. We never participated.

We have over a grand that we could use on Christmas presents, but were not focusing on that at the moment. About the only Black Friday deal we saw that appealed to us as a family was the 50" Plasma Wal-Mart advertised for $698. We were gonna snatch one up, but decided to see where the Christmas present budget for the kids was gonna go. We'd like to leave as much money in the bank as possible this year, but want a few home upgrades, so even without the holidays upon us, we ARE in the mood for a bigger TV then the 36" we have now.

I am a Deist, and handle Christmas as such. I tell my children, Christmas is a holiday that all the stores come up with at the end of the year so people can take a few days off from working in the cold outside and have some fun with their money buying things for other people. And that some people also take this time of year to worship someone they think was important in their life.

Hey, I'm a fukkin' realist. We got beyond the "THERE AIN'T NO SUCH THING AS SANTA CLAUSE" bullshit with my kids the day they saw their first program about the guy.

I shall enjoy getting into the pagan background of these "HOLIDAY TRADITIONS" once my kids are teenagers and into a comprehensive learning age for such material.

[JI7]

11. do people do more personal shopping on black friday ?

especially in recent years with all the deals on high ticket items like computers, television etc. also i wonder if stores hurt themselves by offering these deals so people are less likely to buy other times and just wait to try to get better deals.

[exboyfil]

12. I think you are right

I have the image of a 32" $248 dollar LCD HDTV in my head, and I will not be happy if I later buy a television for more than that price. I will keep going with my 20 year old hand me down television. I am glad I did not go out on Friday morning (I was sick anyway).

[Craftsman]

14. Shoppers spent less over Black Friday weekend

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE5AP0M420091129

By Nicole Maestri
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Consumers spent significantly less at the start of the holiday season this weekend, dimming hopes for a retail comeback that would help propel the economy early in 2010.

While shoppers turned out in force as early as Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, many said they had zeroed in on highly discounted items, would buy only what they needed and would walk out of a store if they did not find a good deal.

"Shoppers proved this weekend that they were willing to open their wallets for a bargain," said National Retail Federation Chief Executive Tracy Mullin in a statement on Sunday. Retail chains "know they have their work cut out for them to keep people coming back through Christmas."

Consumers said they will have spent nearly 8 percent less on average, or about $343 per person, over the weekend that includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday and runs through Sunday, according to the NRF.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE5AP0M420091129

---

I only did my part due to the fact my 20 year old dryer died and I bought a new one.

[Moondog]

15. Who's surprised by this -

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

[DebbieCDC]

16. Only things I bought this weekend were contact lens solution and my lottery tickets

I actually looked at a few things at Fred Meyer today, but put them back. It's going to be a "small" holiday around here.

[Craftsman]

17. I figure we will see some retailer bankruptcies after this Christmas.

[havocmom]

19. I bought some milk and flour today

Gonna make the bread

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

18. Good for them.

:applause:





It's a pitchfork. :think:

[Raine]

20. I heard the opposite

both CNN & MSNBC claimed that the retailers had done better by a half a percent than last year. :shrug: Frankly I don't think anyone "knows which end is up". :yoiks:

[AllentownJake]

29. Two different set of numbers

The ones cited by MSNBC and CNN are from an organization that revised their estimate downward 7% last year after saying there was a 3% increase over 2008.

[femmocrat]

21. I celebrated "Buy Nothing Day."

Didn't even leave the house.

[Peacetrain]

22. Huh... just the opposite of what I have read and what has been reported locally by retailers..

"Online retailers, however, enjoyed an 11 percent jump in Black Friday spending to $595 million, with Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Walmart.com enjoying the biggest surges in traffic, according to comScore."

""Going through the mall on Friday, the stores that had not been doing as well -- AnnTaylor, Limited, Gap -- were very aggressively promoting," said Jeff Edelman, director of retail and consumer advisory services at RSM McGladrey.

Edelman expects holiday sales to be flat this year, but he said he expected profits for most retailers to be higher.

The NRF said shoppers' destination of choice appeared to be department stores, with nearly half of holiday shoppers visiting at least one. A little more than 43 percent of shoppers said they went to a discount retailer this weekend."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well taking that out the article..it does not look as sour as the headline said..

[ooglymoogly]

25. Christmas...bah humbug...didn't spend a penny

Except for some money to the Salvation Army.

[mitchum]

27. Why do Americans hate America?

[NYC_SKP]

28. All I bought was a Jacuzzi tub (half price), a 26" LCD w DVD player (299), and this AWESOME Costume!

Jacuzzi was a return from Lowe's, LCD was mismarked at Best Buy.

And this awesome costume for next Halloween.

Priceless.

[unabelladonna]

30. you can't get blood from a stone

the american consumer is finally showing some responsibility. create jobs....and they will spend.if not, watch for more purveyors of useless nonsense to gou out of business.

[4_TN_TITANS]

34. I feel for all the people who had to work in retail

who got their holidays robbed from them. I'm not even 40 yet but I can remember a time when commerce stood still on Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you didn't get it the day before, you were just S.O.L. because NO stores were open, even convenience stores.

[woodsprite]

35. I know by afternoon on Friday, I went into 4 or 5 different stores and

walked right up to the register. Same thing on Saturday, but it was all day. Mostly what we've been getting this year is stuff that we would have gotten otherwise, we just waited until Christmas (new hat, some pants, shirt, suit for hubby, sweaters for me, hoodies for daughter, sweat suit and some new shirts for my son, a few books for all). We are getting some treats, but not like we normally would (a game for my son that comes from England - bought from eBay, Homedic back massager for hubby, alarm clock/radio for daughter, etc.) For our family, we draw names and spend $150 on each person. Hubby gets one name and I get another. My SIL wanted a runners watch with gps for her gift, and my FIL wants gift certs to Sears Hardware and Home Depot.

I guess our creativity this year will definitely be in the wrapping ;) Pop-rivets, here we come!