Black Friday deals bring shoppers to the stores

Shoppers eager to snap up early-bird specials stormed malls and stores across the US on ''Black Friday'' 23 November, the first official day of the US holiday shopping season for 2007. The shoppers were chasing special giveaways and discounts, while investors were looking for signs of consumer strength or weakness.
Most retailers and analysts have a cautious outlook on the 2007 holiday season. Consumers are expected to cut back on spending given a slumping US housing market, a credit crunch, and sharply rising food and fuel costs. (See earlier report)

Retailers offered extraordinary promotions to entice enough shoppers to come out shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Chief executive of trade group the National Retail Federation (NRF) Tracy Mullin said on Friday that overall, they succeeded.

Retailers like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, J C Penney, Macy''s and Kohl''s Corp announced ''doorbuster'' deals and extended hours to lure the Black Friday crowds. Even Apple, which rarely discounts its goods, jumped in, offering up to $101 off MacBook and iMac computers, and up to $31 off classic iPods.

Retailers believe that if they do well on Black Friday, it''s a good indication that they have the right goods and effective marketing to attract customers for the rest of the season. With the larger-than-usual bargains came the bigger-than-expected crowds.

Despite the chilly weather, customers queued up at night, some pitching tents to stay out of the cold, so as to be the first in through the doors when they opened, in most cases a good few hours before normal opening times.

Wal-Mart and Best Buy put in additional cash registers to cope with the crowds. A lot of Black Friday shoppers were looking to buy white goods like high-definition televisions and laptop computers at unprecedented bargain prices.

More upscale stores did not run big sales, but said business was normal. But those that did not offer bargains, like jewellery shops, were practically deserted. Even apparel stores, many of which advertised 15 to 25 per cent off on their clothes, saw subdued crowds.

Shoppers were thronging stores for the promotions, many of which offered 50 per cent off for the weekend. But they seemed to think that 20 per cent off was not worth it — many shoppers felt those kind of discounts would continue to be available for the rest of the year.

Despite the lead paint scare, crowds lined up outside Toys "R" Us in New York''s Times Square, anxious for deals like 50 per cent off Star Wars transformers and Dora''s magical castle. A company representative said the line was the longest seen on a Black Friday, except during the year that the Nintendo Wii went on sale.

In September, the NRF forecast that holiday retail sales during November and December would be 4 per cent higher than last year, their slowest growth rate since 2002, when sales rose 1.3 per cent, and below the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 4.8 per cent.

Analysts say the Thanksgiving weekend can make up as much as 10 per cent of all holiday sales, while the 10 days before Christmas account for around 40 per cent of the total. There will be 32 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, including five shopping weekends, to find out whether the slowdown predicted will come true or not.