USA: Holiday shopping season officially begins in United States

The 2007 holiday shopping season swings into gear on Black Friday with crowds of shoppers braving the cold to grab early bargains on what is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Thousands of shoppers queued up before dawn on Friday morning (November 23) at Macy's in New York and other retailers to get a head start on their holiday shopping. Known as "Black Friday," the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday marks the start of the holiday shopping season for most consumers and a time to grab cheap deals, freebies and sales. Analysts and investors will watch for signs of consumer strength or weakness. Many retailers have taken a cautious stance since consumers are tightening their purses in the face of a slumping U.S. housing market, a credit crunch and rising food and fuel costs. According to a Reuters/Zogby poll earlier this week, 38.8 percent of respondents said they planned to spend less on gifts this year than last year, up from 31.1 percent a month ago. However, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren was taking a more optimistic view Friday morning (November 23). He said: "If this store and this morning is any indication, it doesn't appear that any of the broader economic issues are going to slow us down here because this store is packed. We were scheduled to open at 6 am, we had to open at 5:30. There was 3,000 customers outside our door, which was unbelievable. So, we opened the doors, we let them in and the traffic has been consistent ever since then." On Black Friday, many retailers open their doors well before dawn, offering large discounts for a limited time. This year J.C. Penney Co Inc opened at 4 a.m., Toys "R" Us and Best Buy Co Inc opened at 5 a.m. Shopper Devon Lighty was pleased with his flat screen television purchase, which he got at a 100 U.S. dollar discount. The dollar's disparity with the British pound was fuelling several shopping sprees by holidaymakers from Britain. Shopper Tom Carroll from Liverpool, England said: "It's great for us. I don't think you guys think it's too great though. You don't see too many Americans in the U.K. now." "Black Friday" once marked the day many retailers turned a profit, or went into the black, for the year. Retail analysts like Marshal Cohen say "Black Friday" has "greyed" because retailers are offering more deals in the holiday season over a longer period of time. "So, what we are seeing is the consumer looking for value during a wider period of time. That's going to clearly diminish the value of the shopping necessity on "Black Friday" to save money and making it more like a sport rather than a key factor," he said. The National Retail Federation trade group expects total holiday retail sales, including November and December, to rise 4 percent to 474.5 billion U.S. dollars this year. That would be the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002, when sales increased 1.3 percent, and would fall below the 10-year holiday sales average of a 4.8 percent increase. Thanksgiving fell on Nov. 22 this year, a day earlier than last year, meaning there will be 32 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and five full shopping weekends.

ITN Source | November 24, 2007

Tags:. .fuel. .billion. .value. .traditionally. .gifts