Early Bird Specials Kick Off Big Shopping Day
Friday, November 28, 2003
NEW YORK — It was "survival of the fittest" Friday as millions of consumers everywhere kicked off the holiday buying season.
URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104297,00.html
And die-hard shoppers were willing to do just about anything to take advantage of the hordes of the bargains retailers offered to inaugurate the season, including waking up before sunrise to grab early bird specials.
About 100 people waited in line outside the KB Toys (search) store in King of Prussia mall near Philadelphia about 5:15 a.m. Edna Daniels, 65, worried her toy would be gone and wished she had been quicker.
"I wish I was here at 4 o'clock; I would have been second in line," she said, hoping to take advantage of a special on the Game Boy Advance for her grandsons, ages 9 and 12. "By this time, I doubt they have them."
The day after Thanksgiving -- known as Black Friday because it once marked the day when retailers got out of the red -- is the traditional start to the holiday shopping season, which generates as much as 40 percent of annual revenues for key gift destinations such as toy stores and apparel chains.
Outside a Wal-Mart (WMT) store in Burlington Township, N.J., Erika Johnson said she was shocked by the line of people that wrapped around the block at 5:30 a.m.
"I couldn't believe it," Johnson said. "I never did this before and I think it may be the last time."
Johnson said she was looking for a CD-DVD combination player that was on sale for $29. She also hoped to get a Hummer remote control car for her daughter, which was going for $20 -- about half its regular price.
"This is going to be a real big and important day not only for the shoppers but for the retailers -- this is their bread and butter, that's why they call it Black Friday," Jonathan Hoenig, portfolio manager with Capitalist Pig Asset Management, told Fox News.
Noting that consumers' take-home pay is up, as is consumer confidence and the stock market, "people generally are doing a lot better this year than they were in previous years," Hoenig said. And "right now, the economy's been looking better than it was six to nine months ago."
'Chaotic But Fun'
"Insane" is how Lloyd Jones, the manager of the Woodbridge, Va., Wal-Mart, described the traditional start to the holiday season.
Jones estimated that 1,000 people lined up in a drizzling rain for the store's 6 a.m. opening. Some were waiting out front as early as 2 a.m. It took more than 30 minutes for people in line to make it through the front door.
Jones said the store sold out of 700, 20-inch TVs in about 20 minutes -- and close to 2,000 DVDs were gone in a half hour.
He estimated that sales at the store will be up about 12 percent over last year.
One first-time Black Friday shopper said the experience was "chaotic but fun."
Rose Foti of Billerica, Mass., got out of bed before dawn to get to the Burlington Mall. She looked out the window of her home before leaving, "and half my neighborhood is leaving (to go shopping). It's nuts."
At 6 a.m. at the mall in Burlington, about 15 miles northwest of Boston, about 200 people waited for Filene's to open its doors at 6 a.m.
"There's like a buzz here this year that was not here last year," said Pam Byron of Arlington, a laid-off high-tech worker.
Imbia Barry of Marietta, Ga., who arrived at Wal-Mart at 3:30 a.m., lost her scarf as the crowd rushed into the store. Some lost their shoes as shoppers raced to the aisles.
"It was an adrenaline rush," Barry said.
Outside a Best Buy in Coralville, Iowa, about 500 people braved the 20-degree temperature to get a jump on bargains.
"I've been here since about 3 a.m.," said Matt Van Berkum. "I'm going to buy a home theater system for my apartment."
Getting Out of the Red
With an improving economy, merchants are more hopeful this year that consumers will keep buying throughout the season, not only when the merchandise is 50 percent off.
"It's not going to be easy. Stores have conditioned consumers to buy on sale," said Burt Flickinger, managing partner at the consulting firm Strategic Resource Group in New York.
Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s (S) early bird specials, from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., include $99 grills and $299.99 combination DVD camcorders. All-day specials include 50 percent off on all sweaters and outerwear.
At J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP), consumers can get 50 percent reductions on holiday decorations, and 35 percent to 50 percent off selected apparel.
Wal-Mart Stores is offering such early bird specials as Symphonic 20-inch flat screen TVs for $99.46, Apex DVD-CD combination players for $29.87 and Kodak digital cameras for $99.74.
The Washington-based National Retail Federation (search) projects total holiday sales to be up 5.7 percent to $217.4 billion from last year. That compares with a modest 2.2 percent increase in 2002.
Stores should also benefit from the fact that this holiday season has 27 shopping days, instead of last year's 26.
Many retailers believe the holiday 2003 season will be better than last year. The economy is on the rebound, but the job market, though improving, is still sluggish.
Stores are trying to avoid getting stuck with mounds of holiday leftovers by entering the season with inventories that average 7 percent below last year's levels.
Meanwhile, online holiday sales are expected to remain a bright spot.
Forrester Research (search) estimated that online sales from Thanksgiving weekend to Christmas will increase 42 percent over a year ago to $12.2 billion. The results include travel and auction sites.
While the Thanksgiving weekend starts the shopping spree, it no longer is the busiest period of the season. Last year, the weekend accounted for 10.1 percent of holiday sales.
The busiest period -- which is becoming increasingly important -- is the last week before Christmas, which accounted for 41 percent a year ago. That's up from 34 percent in 2001 and 30.9 percent in 2000, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (search).
The weekend's business, however, is hardly a barometer of how the rest of the season will fare. Last year, stores enjoyed a strong Thanksgiving weekend, but sales quickly deteriorated.
Don't Be a Shoplifting Scrooge
But with heavier mall traffic comes more shoplifters trying to get something for nothing.
"It's certainly not the happy news of the holiday season," said JoAnn Groff, president of the Colorado Retail Council, an industry group. "Retailers try to go as far as they can to prevent theft."
Theft arrests jumped 65 percent last December at FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield, Colo. Police Sgt. Dan Schuler said larger holiday crowds include more shoplifters. All shoplifters at FlatIron are booked at the Broomfield jail.
Shoplifters took more than $11 billion worth of merchandise from stores last year, according to a study by the accounting firm Ernst & Young. Retailers pass that cost on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Many of the thefts, according to stores and law enforcement, occur in November and December.
Undercover officers also work parking lots to catch break-ins. Police warn shoppers against leaving valuables and bags full of gifts visible in their cars.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. |
