Shoppers arrive early for U.S. holiday sales

reuters ^ | Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:25pm EST | Michele Gershberg and Aarthi Sivaraman

[BenLurkin]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Early bird shoppers filed into U.S. stores on Thanksgiving day on Thursday, drawn by bargains from retailers who hope to salvage what could be a disastrous holiday sales season.

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While most stores start sales on "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, several opened their doors on Thursday, aiming to capture business even before consumers started their traditional holiday meal with family or friends.

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Retailers fear the shrinking economy and mounting job losses could cost them billions of dollars during the crucial season that brings in up to 40 percent of annual sales. Many started offering steep discounts on everything from clothes to electronics weeks in advance of Thanksgiving.

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"I got an excellent deal," she said of a half-price version of the video game Guitar Hero. "We'll get a good meal later."

Scores of shoppers were busy hunting for deals at Kmart, owned by Sears Holdings, as well as Gap Inc's Old Navy in New York on Thursday, along with toy stalwart FAO Schwarz. Other stores that opened for business included video rental chain Blockbuster, which is selling electronics like video games and Blu-ray players.

Other retailers, from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to Macy's and Best Buy, were due to start their big sales in the early hours of Friday.

"Consumer spending on gifts for the holiday season is going to be down considerably," said Eric Anderson, professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University in Illinois. "Black Friday will be the first indicator of how bad it's going to be."

[FlingWingFlyer]

I’m going to hate fighting all that traffic on my way TO WORK TOMORROW!!!

[P.O.E.]

I went shopping on Black Friday one year.

I also went to Times Square for New Year’s Eve one year.

Will never do either again.

[tallyhoe]

How come?

[mlocher]

I went shopping on Black Friday one year.... Will never do ... again

I have never gone. I am in the market for a new computer, so tomorrow would be a great time. However, I think sales will be slow and the bargains will continue throughout the holiday shopping season.

I will save my sanity and watch some college football.

[SoCalPol]

Looks like a large number of the public didn’t get the memo that there is supposed to be a bad economy.

Local news showing many people at shopping centers (malls) here, who have started to camp out today in line for tomorrow

[doc1019]

Why, oh, why … when on Monday everything will be 10% cheaper than it was on Friday. Go figure.

[CindyDawg]

I would like to go to TS once but I don’t shop on Friday either.

[P.O.E.]

It was fun, but the crowds were too much. Maybe I’m just getting too old to deal with the hustle & bustle...

[Sacajaweau]

This makes me laugh every year. They set a "calculated" target amount and then say they didn't meet it.

Will people buy less this year. Some will, some won't...just like last year.

Shopping in general..."People are getrting smarter".

[VOA]

It was fun, but the crowds were too much. Maybe I’m just getting too
old to deal with the hustle & bustle...

I've never done a Black Friday campaign.
But some friends I know that are veterans of about 20 years of it
made some comments when I asked them if they were going out again
for the early open of stores tomorrow.

They both said that things have just gotten uglier year-by-year.
And that even though they are going out early tomorrow...
they may quit in a year or two.

The general idea I get is the good spirits and fun excitement of
the rush has now almost devolved into a unpleasant example of
extreme Social Darwinism.

And this is in the relatively friendly mid-sized town of Columbia, MO.
I fear what I'd see at stores in the Detroit, Philadelphia,
or Newark NJ regions...

[tallyhoe]

Yea I know what ya mean! It is just too much. Do you live close to NY City?

[gopno1]

VOA—

You know there is NO shortage of idiots here in our town.

[VOA]

You know there is NO shortage of idiots here in our town.

Yes.
And sadly, one of the ladies I talked with was probably just
about as conservative as anyone in a decent position at the U of M...
so I trust her commentary.

While I might sound like I'm ragging on Columbia's consumers,
I just fear this is a continuing trend of "the coarsening
of American culture".

Heck, we've been to greater or lesser degrees a "rough and tumble"
society.
But from what I hear my friends say about Black Friday and the
the behaviour they've seen...
folks seem to have forgotten how to be competitive without
being mean-spirited.

Yeah, I know I'm being unrealistic in my hopes for decent behaviour
from my fellow citizen.

[P.O.E.]

Went to NYU for a couple of years. I just found out my apartment was just down the block from the place used as Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti cover. Whoda thunkit?

[TheBattman]

For all the poop I have been hearing about a bad Christmas season for retailers... and how they are desperate to “rescue” the season... I have seen relatively few of the normal “door-buster” sales we have grown accustom too over the last several years.

Looking through the “Black Friday” ads, I have really found nothing worth waiting in line for or fighting the crowds. Generally, there are at least a few things that really get my interest...

Rather lackluster sales from what I have seen. So I really doubt the sincerity of these complaints by retailers. Otherwise they would be practically giving away the store to get folks in the doors.

[P.O.E.]

I even checked the ads today - didn’t see anything I really wanted to get.

[ODC-GIRL]

Drove by an area Outlet Mall on the way home from the brother’s for Thanksgiving. The line of cars on the freeway to get to the mall was MILES long and this is in Michigan. They were opening at midnight. I NEVER go shopping on Black Friday. Absolutely TOO crazy.

[Vaduz]

I’m going to hate fighting all that traffic on my way TO WORK TOMORROW!!!I hope I have a job tomorrow the way things are going.

[FBD]

Sure, people are still spending money, but charging more debt on credit cards doesn’t mean the economy is good...