U.S. Black Friday sales up

High-definition TVs, laptops, Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamsters and winter coats were among the most popular items, according to the federation, a Washington-based trade group. Sales advanced 0.5 percent to US$10.7 billion, ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago- based research firm, said yesterday in a statement.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, drew crowds with US$298 Hewlett-Packard laptop computers and other specials that went on sale at 5 a.m. Best Buy Inc., the biggest electronics chain, used US$547.99 42-inch Samsung flat-panel TVs to lure shoppers grappling with the highest unemployment in 26 years. The retailer had bigger early-morning crowds than last year, Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn said.

“The surprise news is that they are actually buying for themselves as well, due to pent-up demand and frugal fatigue,” Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group Inc. said in a Bloomberg Television interview Nov. 27. “They are saying 'Let's loosen up the purse strings a little bit,' but it is still cautious spending.” NPD, based in Port Washington, New York, is a market research firm.

Holiday Shopping Prediction

The day after U.S. Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday, the traditional beginning of holiday buying. Explanations of the phrase's origins differ, one holding that it's the weekend when retailers go to being in the black, profitable for the year. Stores open early on Black Friday and offer early-bird discounts to attract business.

A 4.9 percent sales decrease in the northeast countered gains in other regions, according to ShopperTrak. Consumer traffic was heavy throughout the country, the research firm, which plans to release store-visit figures in the next few days.

“We've seen a gradual retail sales increase over the last two weeks and with Black Friday's performance, it looks like November will be a positive month for retailers,” Bill Martin, a ShopperTrak co-founder, said in the statement. “The 1.6 percent increase we originally predicted for the holiday season remains intact.”

Retailers' chief marketing officers predicted Black Friday sales would climb an average 1.8 percent from a year ago at their own stores, according to a survey conducted by BDO Seidman LLP in October. Ninety-six of 100 executives said they would increase promotions this year, offering the biggest discounts on consumer electronics.

Discounts On TVs

“Retailers in all sectors have reported strong crowds,” according to an NRF statement Nov. 27.

Walmart fell 33 cents to US$54.63 on Nov. 27 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Richfield, Minnesota-based Best Buy lost 43 cents to US$42.83.

There seemed to be more discounts on TVs this year, and shoppers were snapping them up, said Charles O'Shea, a New York- based retail analyst with Moody's Investors Service. In the four hours he spent checking retailers in northern New Jersey, he saw several shoppers standing at bus stops holding flat-panel sets.

“It looks like everybody has caught the promotional bug,” O'Shea said in a telephone interview Nov. 27.

The lines in front of Best Buy stores were longer and the company's Web site attracted more visitors than in 2008, Best Buy's Dunn said.

“Those are both directionally important indicators for us,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

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