Black Friday kicks off as retailers hope for better year
Source: Agencies |
November 26, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE American holiday shopping season began in earnest yesterday as stores opened at midnight - a few hours earlier than they normally do on the most anticipated shopping day of the year. A few retailers even had lines of waiting shoppers when they opened on the Thanksgiving harvest holiday on Thursday.
The openings were mostly peaceful, but Los Angeles authorities said 20 people at a Walmart store suffered minor injuries when a woman used pepper spray to gain a "competitive" shopping advantage shortly after the store opened on Thursday evening.
In North Carolina, police were looking for two suspects after gunfire erupted at a mall, and police said two women were injured and a man was charged after a fight broke out at a Walmart in New York state.
Protests were planned in places like Chicago and Washington, D.C. to get people to reconsider shopping at national chains on what is known as Black Friday, so called because of the accounting practice of recording losses in red and profits in black.
Such protests haven't stopped the crowds - more than 9,000 people were outside the flagship Macy's store in New York City at its midnight opening.
Retailers hope the earlier openings will make Black Friday shopping more convenient for Americans who are more worried about high unemployment and other challenges they face in the weak economy.
Black Friday is important to merchants because it kicks off the holiday shopping season, a time when they can make 25 to 40 percent of their annual revenue. It's expected that shoppers will spend nearly US$500 billion during the holiday shopping season, or about 3 percent more than they did last year.
About 34 percent of consumers said they planned to shop on Black Friday, up from 31 percent last year, said the International Council of Shopping Centers, and 16 percent had planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day itself. For the weekend, 152 million people were expected to shop, up from 138 million last year.
To get people to shop, merchants pulled out of their bag of tricks. Only a few opened last year at midnight, but several more stores followed this year. Some are offering to match the prices of competitors. Others are offering layaway plans that allow shoppers to pay as they go.
But the deals are what's driving many shoppers into stores. The Gap is offering discounts of 60 percent and 40 percent on many items. Old Navy has pea coats for US$29 and jeans for US$15. Toys R Us is selling a Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime action figure for US$30 off at US$47.99 and a Power Wheels Barbie vehicle for US$120 off for US$199.99. And Best Buy has a US$499 42-inch LCD HDTV for US$199.
After showing up at Best Buy in New York on Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, Emmanuel Merced, 27, and his brother were the first in line before it opened. On their list was a Sharp 42-inch TV for US$199, a PlayStation 3 console with games for US$199.99 and wireless headphones for US$30. Merced said he likes camping out for Black Friday and he figures he saved 50 percent.
The openings were mostly peaceful, but Los Angeles authorities said 20 people at a Walmart store suffered minor injuries when a woman used pepper spray to gain a "competitive" shopping advantage shortly after the store opened on Thursday evening.
In North Carolina, police were looking for two suspects after gunfire erupted at a mall, and police said two women were injured and a man was charged after a fight broke out at a Walmart in New York state.
Protests were planned in places like Chicago and Washington, D.C. to get people to reconsider shopping at national chains on what is known as Black Friday, so called because of the accounting practice of recording losses in red and profits in black.
Such protests haven't stopped the crowds - more than 9,000 people were outside the flagship Macy's store in New York City at its midnight opening.
Retailers hope the earlier openings will make Black Friday shopping more convenient for Americans who are more worried about high unemployment and other challenges they face in the weak economy.
Black Friday is important to merchants because it kicks off the holiday shopping season, a time when they can make 25 to 40 percent of their annual revenue. It's expected that shoppers will spend nearly US$500 billion during the holiday shopping season, or about 3 percent more than they did last year.
About 34 percent of consumers said they planned to shop on Black Friday, up from 31 percent last year, said the International Council of Shopping Centers, and 16 percent had planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day itself. For the weekend, 152 million people were expected to shop, up from 138 million last year.
To get people to shop, merchants pulled out of their bag of tricks. Only a few opened last year at midnight, but several more stores followed this year. Some are offering to match the prices of competitors. Others are offering layaway plans that allow shoppers to pay as they go.
But the deals are what's driving many shoppers into stores. The Gap is offering discounts of 60 percent and 40 percent on many items. Old Navy has pea coats for US$29 and jeans for US$15. Toys R Us is selling a Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime action figure for US$30 off at US$47.99 and a Power Wheels Barbie vehicle for US$120 off for US$199.99. And Best Buy has a US$499 42-inch LCD HDTV for US$199.
After showing up at Best Buy in New York on Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, Emmanuel Merced, 27, and his brother were the first in line before it opened. On their list was a Sharp 42-inch TV for US$199, a PlayStation 3 console with games for US$199.99 and wireless headphones for US$30. Merced said he likes camping out for Black Friday and he figures he saved 50 percent.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
