Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Discounters fared the best as retailers had a generally strong opening weekend to the holiday shopping season.
©Associated Press
December 2, 2002
NEW YORK -- Even in a tight economy, the holiday shopping season had a solid start over the Thanksgiving weekend as retailers wooed consumers with discounts and specials on televisions, DVD players and other popular gifts.
Discounters including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had the greatest success, plying customers with early bird specials and other come-ons, while major department stores and clothing chains generally met modest sales goals, according to analysts' preliminary estimates. Online sales were also strong.
"It was as expected. It wasn't a bonanza, but it was a good start," said Steve Nevill, partner at Kurt Salmon Associates, a retail consulting firm.
"One consistent thing we heard was that only things marked down were selling. Consumers want a bargain, especially around the holiday," he said.
Call it the bargain-on-demand mentality. Blame Wal-Mart, Target and the other discount retailers who have conditioned the nation's shoppers to expect to get more for less. But with the holiday season in high gear, many retailers are finding they have no choice but to entice people with at least the impression of a deal.
Shoppers interviewed over the weekend agreed.
"I've never seen so many sales. I feel like a kid in a candy store," said Edna McCoy, of New Haven, Conn., shopping at Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Md.
Her purchases included a pea coat from Old Navy and perfume and items from Bath and Body Works. McCoy said that she usually waits until the last minute, but she received her pension check and decided to start early.
Nevill estimated that sales at department stores and mall-based clothing chains opened at least a year were up 2 percent for the weekend, while discounters had a 4 percent gain.
That's about in line with analysts' modest projections for the overall holiday season. With consumers concerned about job security and shrunken stock portfolios, no one expects business to be robust.
A lack of must-have items could also limit sales, although very popular gifts included DVD players and other home electronics, kitchen ware and the Fur Real Friend, a hot toy cat by Hasbro that's already in short supply. These merchandise categories did well over the weekend, as did apparel that's in greater demand as the temperature has fallen.
The Thanksgiving weekend isn't necessarily a good barometer of how retailers will fare for the entire season. In fact, over the past few years, the weekend accounted for less than 10 percent of sales, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
But with six fewer shopping days in the season than last year, Thanksgiving weekend becomes even more critical to merchants, according to C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group.
"There is no way you could have made up for this weekend, considering the shorter season," he said. "This is the kind of kickoff that retailers need if they are going to equal last year's numbers."
Total retail sales were up 10.9 percent for the two-day period following Thanksgiving compared with a year ago, according to ShopperTrak RCT, which tracks sales at 22,000 retail outlets. Last year, sales during the two-day period rose 5 percent.
Merchants went into the season with lean inventories, hoping to avoid drastic after-Christmas discounts. But they still felt the need to discount heavily this weekend to get a good start on the season, Nevill said.
Economic worries were on many shoppers' minds.
Debra Curry of Cincinnati said she did not make any purchases Saturday because she was comparison shopping at discount stores.
"I want to get my 8-year-old daughter a (Barbie Sing-a-long Karaoke machine), but I need to get the best buy I can," Curry said. She said she will probably wait until closer to Christmas to start spending.
"I don't have much to spend this year, so I have to be careful," she said.
But online merchants had a good weekend. Sales were up 61 percent on Friday, compared to the day after Thanksgiving a year ago, according to BizRate.com, a research company.
Another research firm, comScore Networks Inc., reported online sales rose 40 percent. Both estimates exclude results from the travel category.
On land, Wal-Mart set a record for one-day sales on Friday, generating $1.43-billion. Last year, Wal-Mart reported sales of $1.25-billion the day after Thanksgiving.
Target reported on a prerecorded call that while traffic on Friday was consistent with that of previous year-ago periods, customers seemed to "linger longer" and "purchase more items per cart."
Among the top sellers were MGA Entertainment's Bratz dolls, DVD titles like Monsters, Inc. and digital cameras.
Major mall operators, including Taubman Centers Inc. and General Growth Properties, said sales and shopper traffic for the weekend ran higher than a year ago.
"Last year, sales and traffic were sporadic," said Wally Brewster, senior vice president of corporate marketing at Chicago-based General Growth Properties. "This year, we are ahead of expectations."
Michael Gould, chairman of Bloomingdale's, also said sales beat expectations for the weekend.
"We felt good versus last year," he said, noting the store saw "good" increases, although he declined to elaborate.
But, asked to predict the rest of the season, Gould declined.
"We take each day as it comes."
-- Information from the New York Times was used in this report.