Quantcast

Jeff Green Partners

A LEADER IN RETAIL REAL ESTATE FEASIBILITY

jgreen@jeffgreenpartners.com

415-847-1770

Black Friday

Black Friday not holiday bellwether it once was

With the 2014 holiday sales season spread out longer, Black Friday is no longer the bellwether for holiday sales it once was, say veteran retail analysts.

Analysts offered a variety of numbers for the weekend, some showing sales increases, others showing decreases. The National Retail Federation reported that total projected sales were down 11 percent for the weekend, while spending over the entire holiday season will increase by 4.1 percent this year.

“We believe the drop in consumer spending was not a matter of consumers pulling back, but consumers responding to a much longer, heavily promoted and discounted holiday spending season that begins almost as soon as the Halloween costumes are returned to the attic,” said NRF SVP Bill Thorne. “Consumer spending for holiday gifts starts earlier and ends later as the post-recession consumer seeks the best deals at the price point they want to pay. Further, as mobile use continues to grow and on-line retailers become more competitive, the need to fight crowds in order to get the best deals becomes less important.”

For local clothier, hope comes with more sales

Justine Griffin / Herald-Tribune – Editor’s Note: Retail reporter Justine Griffin is shadowing two local store owners this season. She will chronicle what it is like to prepare for the holiday season in Sarasota’s two distinct shopping markets.

Just when Jackie Zumba thought life couldn’t be busier, the holiday season rolls around.

It’s been a little less than two months since Zumba, the 27-year-old owner of Jackie Z Style Co., opened a boutique inside the Mall at University Town Center, and business is just ramping up.

Thanksgiving is for eating, not shopping

Bianca Torres / The Seattle Times – When I heard that more retail stores plan to open on Thanksgiving this year, I felt dismayed that shopping was tainting the purity of one of my favorite holidays.

Then I remembered I live in a nation of consumers and that Americans vote more with their dollars than they do at the ballot box.

Retailers began experimenting with Thanksgiving Day shopping a few years ago with stores like Macy’s, JC Penney, Best Buy and Target launching Black Friday sales a day early. The experiment is now a full-fledged trend, but of course, not all shoppers or merchants are joining in – many are outraged.

Instead of enjoying turkey and all the dressings with their loved ones, some people will be forced to work next Thursday. And what about those helpless shoppers who can’t resist a good deal? Are greedy retail companies taking advantage of them?

Retailers practice to make Black Friday smooth

Lauren Abdell-Razzaq / The Detroit News – The moment the doors opened, they stormed the Best Buy store in true Black Friday fashion, brandishing ads and calling out for an assortment of electronics with varying degrees of knowledge about the products.

“Where is the new Samsung iPad?” a confused customer asked.

“Do you have that TV I saw advertised?” said another.

“I’m a little kid who’s lost his parents,” said a third.

Of course the real thing won’t happen until Thursday and Friday. But when the employees at the Utica store opened their doors Sunday, they were faced down by a massive line of eager “shoppers” whipped into a frenzy by holiday deals. In reality, the employees of this store — along with the “Blue Shirts” at every Best Buy store across the nation — were role-playing in an elaborate practice run designed to prevent problems when the real Thanksgiving and Black Friday customers appear.

Millennials shape holiday shopping experience [Detroit Free Press :: ]

Georgia Kovanis / Livingston Daily – Angela Hernandez, who is 26, works as a social media specialist and has a lifetime of shopping ahead of her, is just the sort of person retailers want in their stores this holiday season.

And to pique her interest and that of her peers, retailers — who for years catered to the older, baby boomer generation — are updating the way they do business. They’re embracing social media, stocking merchandise made by small and local companies, featuring work from independent artists, selling hip items that give back to charitable causes and trying to turn a trip to the store into a real experience, in a good way. Which affects the way all shoppers shop, changing everything from merchandise selection to customer service.

SHOPPING STRETCH [Albuquerque Journal, N.M. :: ]

Jessica Dyer / Albuquerque Journal – Black Friday: It just isn’t like it used to be. No longer does the day after Thanksgiving serve as the standard launch of the holiday shopping season. More than 40 percent of Americans start gift-buying before Halloween, according to a recent National Retail Federation survey, and many retailers decked their halls weeks ago.

Black Friday also is not the end-all, be-all for deals. Yes, door-busters abound for certain items, but scintillating sales crop up for weeks on either side of Thanksgiving.