U.S. store sales and visits up over the holiday weekend

“It was a retail manager’s dream,” said Melissa Marks, store manager at a Los Angeles L’Occitane boutique, which saw Black Friday sales double to US$4,000 from last year. But, she added Sunday, “yesterday and today are not so good.”

Nationwide, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the four-day weekend, up from 147 million last year, the National Retail Federation said Sunday.

Shoppers spent an average of US$372.57, up 7.2 percent from 2007, for an estimated US$41 billion in spending for the Thursday-Sunday period, the industry group said. More deals come Monday as online merchants roll out Web-only specials and free shipping offers.

But analysts expressed doubts that a healthy Black Friday signaled a turnaround for the nation’s beleaguered retailers. Many called it a one-time wonder in what is expected to be one of the bleakest holiday shopping seasons in decades.

“In the past, if you did well on Black Friday, the retailer knew they would do well the rest of the season,” said Jackie Fernandez, a retail partner at Deloitte & Touche. “I don’t think that is the same kind of comparison this year.”

Desperate for a strong day of sales, retailers took no chances Friday and opened their stores earlier, slashed prices further and offered discounts on entire purchases. And that was after weeks of already steep promotions designed to attract wary shoppers.

Day-after-Thanksgiving retail sales rose 3 percent over last year to US$10.6 billion, according to early figures released by ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which monitors sales at more than 50,000 outlets.

Another tracking company, comScore, said online retail sales rose 1 percent on Black Friday, to US$534 million, compared with 2007.

Even as they shopped for toys and TVs, consumers continued to watch their wallets.

“Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategic initiatives for BIGresearch, which conducted the National Retail Federation’s survey. “Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases.”

For Maricel Cruz, a teacher from Rosemead, Calif., the weak economy meant cutting her holiday budget by hundreds of dollars. And, for the first time, she bought most of her holiday gifts from Wal-Mart.

“Normally we spend well over a thousand, more like two thousand,” Cruz, 40, said while loading up on gifts at a Wal-Mart in Rosemead. “But everything in there is so cheap, which is why we finally came here to do our shopping.”

Among the weekend’s top sellers: clothing and accessories; books, DVDs, CDs and video games; consumer electronics; and toys.

Although analysts have questioned the profitability of so many sales, retailers have signaled that the huge discounts won’t end any time soon.

John Braeger, vice president of the Garys Companies, which operates a handful of upscale retail stores in Southern California, said the Gary shops have offered more coupons and discounts lately to lure shoppers.

“It’s been somewhat challenging so far this season,” he said. “We’ve had to discount a little more than typical, just to be competitive in today’s market with everything going on.”

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