Posted on 11/27/2005 5:58:35 AM PST by xcamel
Washington, DC, November 25, 2005—Bargain hunters were up before dawn this morning to fill their shopping carts with some of the biggest holiday discounts in memory. Last year, shoppers spent $22.8 billion the weekend after Thanksgiving, and current estimates indicate that consumers might spend even more this year.
“This will go down as one of the earliest and most promotional Black Fridays in history,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Many stores opened earlier than ever before and retailers offered unbelievable sales and discounts to get people shopping.”
Shopper turnout on Black Friday can help retailers identify popular holiday gifts as well as consumer sentiments and attitudes. Early trends this year indicate that consumers are out shopping for electronics, housewares, and toys.
“This year, retailers have learned the meaning of the phrase, ‘if you discount, they will come,’” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Lukewarm promotions on Black Friday won’t get consumers out of bed, so most stores went all out this year to ensure that they were part of the holiday hype.”
Black Friday is a term coined for the day after Thanksgiving, in which, traditionally, retailers went from being "in the red" to being "in the black"--profitable.
NRF continues to project an increase of 6.0 percent in holiday sales this year over last year, bringing estimated revenues of $439.5 billion this holiday season. Earlier this week, NRF raised its holiday sales forecast for the first time in its history from an earlier projection of five percent growth. The first installment of the Consumer Intentions and Actions survey revealed that consumers plan to spend $738.11 this year on holiday gifts, decorations, cards, candy, and food.
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.4 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 23 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2004 sales of $4.1 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.
$439.5 billion. Who can doubt that we take religion seriously?
But I have been reading articles about how slow the buying has been. This is all a Karl Rove manipulated story. /sarcasm
Happy people in church are alot better than a line making requests of the "poor box"
I thought they called it "Black Friday" because it was a good day for Capitalists and assorted Greedy Business Owner types.
You know, the day where all the dishevelled masses are forced to go shopping and buy all the unsafe, overpriced crap from the robber barons.
I know I went to Home Depot to get a Ryobi 18v cordless drill for 30.00 and they were sole out within the 1st hour. I heard Ryobi's suck though anyway (Aesop anyone?) .
And why "Home Desperate" ??
HD and Lowes drove more sucessful family business into bankrupcy than WalMart ever did.
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