Holiday shopping season off to flat start

[Shakespeare]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. holiday season's first major shopping day got off to a relatively flat start compared to a strong 2004, despite special promotions, discounts and expanded hours, according to figures released on Saturday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051126/us_nm/retail_sales_dc

Given how aggressively (read: desperately) retailers like Wal-Mart marketed their big sales, this looks especially bad for the retail numbers.

[Jazzgirl]

1. Yesterday was not that big a deal.

My Mom was here visiting and we went running around yesterday. I was really surprised that there wasn't any more traffic than there was. It was pretty quiet. Even the mall was quiet for what I'm used to. Cars are normally backed up a few blocks leading into the mall the day after Thanksgiving but not yesterday. I was surprised.

JG

[NanceGreggs]

2. Imagine that!

Ordinary, hard-working Americans unwilling to spend a week's salary on a tankful of gas, to go to the mall and buy cheap crap made in China by the very person who their old job got outsourced to.

Why would that be? Just because it might be YOUR job on the chopping block next, is that going to stop you from contributing your fair share of bucks to the CEOs and shareholders of the manufacturers who are about to cut off your livelihood, or that of your neighbours?

I guess people who are worried about insignificant things - like how they can afford to heat their house this winter, or what they'll do if they get sick and have no health insurance, or how they're going to pay off their credit card debt after they declare bankruptcy - just don't have any CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!

[Seabiscuit]

7. Yet despite all that so many of them still voted for * ("moral values")

It's damned hard to imagine this kind of voter - * can stomp on him, starve his family, make prescription drugs unaffordable, outsource his job, cut his tongue out, poke out his eyes, castrate him, and he'll still vote for * so long as * wants a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage, or approves of teaching Intentional Design in science class (none of these "moral values" issues affects him personally) - but they are there, and in the millions.

We're living in the Twilight Zone.

[tabasco]

12. That's right ! No Christmas spirit !

Christmas spirit = CONSUME! CONSUME! CONSUME!

[Bjornsdotter]

3. Wow, does CNN and MSNBC know?

...because they keep saying it was a great day; exceeded all expectations...better buying season than last year. However almost every poll states that people are planning on spending less.

Cheers!

[NanceGreggs]

9. Someone should point out to CNN ...

... that the CNN plane is flying around in circles with faulty landing gear.

[Bjornsdotter]

16. Lol n/t

[jayctravis]

19. It was a great day for them...because they got to catch all those

retail store fights on video and report on them.

Where I work, we ran out of loss-leader specials early, and the rest of the day was normal.

[allisonthegreat]

27. it really amazes me

why i even bother to turn on the big three...

[tularetom]

4. Maybe all the scare propaganda backfired

Ta;k of terrattacks at shopping malls, bird flu, high oil and gas prices, all the things the * administration uses to scare the shit out of people may have finally convinced a lot of Americans that it wasn't in their best interest to go out and blow $1000 or more on some cheap crap from China that was going to stop working in 2 or 3 months anyway. I don't think most people feel there is a "robust economy" despite all the MSM bullshit.

[CrazyForKucinich]

5. Who has money? Yet alone money to get people gifts?

Well?

[wakeme2008]

6. The only ppl that did great yesterday were the Credit Card companies

The stores sell $300 Laptop and $200 PC were NOT making any profit on them....

[Media_Lies_Daily]

30. I think a lot of people are paying cash this year...we are for sure.

[deadparrot]

8. What happened to all those large crowds

people trumpeted yesterday? :eyes:

[MiniMe]

35. Large crowds don't mean anything unless the people buy something

I think a lot of the people went for those super deals like the $200 laptops, and they only had a limited number of them.

[Straight Shooter]

10. Maybe we've got more important things on our mind than supporting China.

Let's see, do I buy a cute but fairly useless item made in China, or do I apply that $10 to my electric bill, or maybe my grocery bill?

No brainer on that decision.

BTW, http://www.superpawn.com is one place I like to look for replacing small applicances, tools, et cetera, (even jewelry such as watches although the watches tend to be a bit too expensive for my budget). I've found good prices for quality goods and, in a way, it's a form of recycling to buy something used instead of purchasing everything new.

edit to add: I've bought several items from them and have been very pleased with what I received. No problems whatsoever.

[BronxBoy]

32. Thanks for the Link

Been looking to beef up my tool collection. I'll try them out.

[Straight Shooter]

36. You're welcome.

I'm looking for a used router but I'm not sure exactly what I want because I'm not familiar with routers enough to know which features are best for me. They do have a fairly large selection, though.

Good luck in the tool hunting. :hi:

[high density]

11. Sales down almost 1% on Black Friday

That sounds rather shitty for an economy that all the right wingers are telling us is booming.

[wakeme2008]

31. The Economy is BOOMING

for Oil companies/Electric companies..... :grr:

[Maeve]

13. A bit of reality--"Black Friday" isn't the biggest shopping day

It usually comes in 5th--more lookers than buyers
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/thanksgiving/shopping.asp

But the media thinks they have to hype the whole concept--we won't buy if they don't tell us to! (Not sure which I find sadder--their assumption of our gullibility or their assumption that what they say MATTERS)
We never go to the mall on Thanksgiving Friday--we hit the theater, where the crowds are small.

[I_am_Spartacus]

15. I don't think it's sold as biggest day, but as a big indicator.

If this weekend is slow, it bodes ill for the Christmas season.

[54anickel]

21. If I remember correctly. last year wasn't all that great either. Each

week they would look for it to tick up a bit. The final explanation was gift cards. Everyone was buying gift cards and it doesn't count until it's redeemed for something.
It's the final week of the year that makes or breaks it now. Everyone waits for the after Christmas sales. Wonder how long into January retailers hold there books open?

[I_am_Spartacus]

14. People don't feel so rich when home prices are dropping, they have

big mortagages, their salaries having gone up, they're un(der)employed, etc.

The stock markets has been surging a little bit, but I don't think it's going to make people want to spend.

[ShockediSay]

22. Wait 'til the home heating bills come in - reminds me of a movie

"The Big Chill"

[madrchsod]

17. i`m buying two chrismas presents

and one birthday present tomorrow...doing my best to keep the economy chugging along...

[onehandle]

18. We're nearly five years into recession. This is no big surprise.

Oh, it's not technically a recession?

Do you believe this administration's numbers?

God I miss the Clinton Economy!

[area51]

20. I miss Clinton's economy too.

I think we're definitely in a recession or a Depression.

[jab105]

23. Based on my own small store...this year is a lot slower

than last year...I've already cut many of my prices by 20%, and I'm still not finding buyers...am very surprised at how slow it has been...this is usually the best time of the year for sales...

[Straight Shooter]

37. I'm sorry to hear that.

I won't be buying anything this year, budget is so tight it squeaks and squeals, but last year I bought all my gifts from small local stores.

If only people would shun Wal-Mart and get back to the basics of supporting members of their community, whether that community be large or small. :(

[borlis]

24. I work for an upscale retail store

and the past two days were really not much busier than regular weekend days.

[Caria]

25. I went shopping yesterday

but did not buy or spend much. Even with all the coupons and discounts, our budget is too tight for many luxuries this year. My impression was that my fellow shoppers were not buying much either.

[kineneb]

26. went shopping, but not for gifts

bought bookcases and some office supplies. My holiday gifts will be homemade- I purchased locally-produced wool roving which I will spin and then knit into various things. I may buy some sock yarn online, so I can knit up some nice warm socks for family members. I want to finish Hubby's Zen rock garden, so he is getting bags of sand and a small boulder.

[Blaq Dem]

28. We should just boycott this holiday crap!

What do we have to celebrate anyway? It's all about big companies making money.

Christmas doesn't have a damn thing to do with Jesus. As a matter of fact, I can't recall any passages that says we must celebrate Christmas anyway.

I say we should boycott and keep our money in our pockets.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

29. Lots of Lookers no takers

Store where crowded where I live, people buying? sure :sarcasm:

I tried to avoid shopping the day after thanksgiving, I did look (tried at least) online at some of the stores websites, thanksgiving was my birthday so I got a couple of gift cards. I noticed a number of sites where the servers had crashed from to many vistors, best buy was one of them. You would think that a electronic retailer would be able to fix a problem such as this doesn't make me want to buy something from them. Also notice some stores where selling some of their weekly sale ad items on their websites with free shipping. I don't know about anyone else but if I can get the same item online as in the store why would I want to go try fighting for the stuff in the store with crazy shoppers when I get the itme guaranteed online. I went one time to a best buy a about 5 years ago, and I was there about 25 minutes after the store was open the place was empty shelfs and all the cashier lines where open with at least 75 people waiting in each of them. Crazy

[Nomen Tuum]

33. Something IS going on

On Thanksgiving, I was by myself here in Los Angeles, so I decided to go to Canter's Deli around 2 PM. I did this last year and Canters was packed solid, there was a 2 hour wait to get in.

This year, I went at the same time and I was shocked. Just about nobody there, walked in, got my sandwich and 15 minutes later I was out of there. If people aren't packing Canters on a holiday, something is VERY wrong with the economy, no matter what Rush says...

Friday, I did no shopping, but I did do some looking and the stores were not as crowded as last year!

Something is going on...

[Missy Vixen]

38. I love Canter's!

>I decided to go to Canter's Deli around 2 PM<

Okay, tell us what you had to eat ;-). Seattle boasted the Catskills Deli for many years, but I think they've closed. It's a huge bummer. They had the best pastrami sandwiches and chocolate cake I have ever had; DH loved their matzoh ball soup. :woohoo:

You're right, something's going on in retail. I own a store. My store was amazingly quiet over the weekend, and there wasn't a lot of buying happening anywhere in our small town's merchants.

Julie

[sofa king]

34. All I want for Christmas is a cord of firewood.

And some Prozac.

[Giant Robot]

39. Based on Mrs. Giant Robot's store

She works at kind of an upscale chain dept. store, the sales were OK. Not bad, not great, but OK. They did better than they were planning to, but still not as good as last year. The rest of the weekend has been awfully quiet for them so far. For what its worth.

And an interesting factoid I saw. CNN is reporting that credit card companies say there has been a 14% increase in the use of credit cards this year on Black Friday. Sorry haven't gone to look for a link. But hey great news! Now even more fellow citizens will be a debt slave to Visa!

[mbperrin]

40. How come a $72 million DROP is flat?

"Data from ShopperTrak showed Black Friday sales were flat, down a slight 0.9 percent from a year ago to $8 billion."

Doesn't even consider adjusting for inflation (even the "official rate would add another 3% or $240 million to that drop - if we took the real rate which is much closer to 10%, would be $800 million more).

So a decrease of $300 million to a billion is nothin', right?

Well, Ok, then.

[Tempest]

42. Something you all might have missed

Credit card purchases are up 13.5% from last year, and last year saw a 24% increase over 2003.

We're not only seeing a housing bubble, but a personal credit bubble as well.

It's going to be ugly when the bills come due.

[Maggie_May]

41. I know I am spending less this year

with high energy costs and health care I have very little for Christmas. I also know that interest rates on cards will just go up so nothing on plastic this year.