Black Friday turnout a success for stores

Published 5:02 pm Saturday, November 27, 2010

Black Friday, by all accounts, was a success with shoppers showing up in good numbers. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Black Friday shoppers are needing to wake up earlier and earlier, or in some cases stay up all night, in order to get the deals they want.

This year, the largest Austin retailers said their Black Friday events were successful, and on par, if not larger, than last year.

“Everything is excellent,” Sara Wundrow, Austin Target store manager said. “We expected a bit more guest traffic this year than last year and we definitely saw that.”

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Over 500 people lined up outside of Target waiting for the doors to open at 4 a.m., Wundrow said.

Younkers Manager Randy Forstner said things are going well, also.

“We have great crowds, and about the only thing I can tell you is that we’re having a great day,” Forstner said on Friday.

Younkers, which opened at 3 a.m., saw a line of about 150 shoppers waiting for doors to open.

“Crowd sizes are similar to last year,” Forstner said. “Everything is a hot item. Our biggest item has been an alternative down comforter for $19.97.”

Sterling Drug on Main Street featured a special in which customers could sign up for a repeat rewards card and receive a “giant gift bag” to put as many gifts and toys into as possible. Anything in the bag was then 50 percent off, Store Manager Jessica Jenkins said.

“I would say … it feels like it’s larger (this year) due to us kicking off our rewards program a few weeks ago,” Jenkins said. “A lot of people are excited about that. It’s going really well.”

Wal-Mart was also successful in the early morning hours, a store spokesman said, likely exceeding last year’s sales.

Nationally, early signs pointed to a solid turnout for the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. In an encouraging sign for retailers and for the economy, more shoppers appeared to be buying for themselves than last year, when such indulgences were limited. Lengthened hours that pushed some store openings into Thanksgiving also appeared to pay off.

Toys R Us, which drew in shoppers with 50 percent discounts on such toys as Buzz Lightyear and Barbies, was counting on getting an extra boost by opening 24 hours straight, starting at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

“Where there are bargains, there are people looking to gobble them up,” said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for market research firm NPD. Though people were mostly sticking to their lists, some were picking up small extras. However, “the consumer is still very calculated.”

Wal-Mart averted the dangers of years past by keeping its doors open all night to head off potential stampedes. While there was a steady influx of shoppers, no one dashed through aisles or shoved. Instead, they lined up for tickets entitling them to heavily discounted TVs and computers and then camped out in cordoned-off aisles.

Retail analyst Cohen, who had a team of consultants monitoring 11 regions in the country, estimated that 15 percent of purchases so far on Friday were items for themselves, up from about 9 percent last year on the same day. On Black Friday 2008, he estimated it dropped to about 5 percent. In good economic times, such purchases run about 26 percent, Cohen said.

The good news is that retailers are heading into the season with some momentum after a solid start to November. Shoppers who can afford it are buying more nonessentials, like jewelry and luxury goods.

Wundrow, store manager at the Austin Target, said sales were up for apparel and accessories on Friday, which was slightly unexpected.

Consumers began shopping earlier in the day on Thursday compared with a year earlier. And the average order was $182.74, up from $159.81 on last year’s Thanksgiving Day.

Last year, the Thanksgiving shopping weekend accounted for 12.3 percent of overall holiday revenue, according to ShopperTrak. Black Friday made up about half of that.

Austin retailers said they took precautions to keep customers safe, especially in the early morning hours when shoppers rushed into the stores from the cold.

“It has been just a very positive experience for our guests and for the team,” Wundrow said. “We made sure that safety was a focus. We wanted everyone to leave happy, healthy and in one piece.”