Yes Virginia, There Is A Strong Economy

ZOOMING IN ON BARGAINS
Stores 'swamped' with early birds
Retailers worked to renew spark of traditional shopping day — and Houstonians bought it

By DAVID KAPLAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Black Friday, that peculiar shopping day when people wake up in the middle of the night for a chance at a really good deal, has lost some of its effectiveness in recent years.

But retailers were out to reverse the trend this year.

"They're trying to bring back more excitement with extended hours and more door-buster specials, to make Black Friday one of the biggest days of the year again," said Jay McIntosh, director of retail and consumer products at Ernst & Young.

Houstonians responded.

At 1 a.m. Friday, dozens of shoppers were outside the Clear Lake-area Circuit City waiting for the 5 a.m. opening.

At other big box stores across town, it was a similar scene.

"Black Friday has almost become a religion with people," said Conn's district sales manager Tom Miller. "I've done this for 16 years, and this is probably the strongest I've seen. People are thrilled with the early bird deals and they come in willing to spend money."

At Conn's, sales of plasma and LCD TVs, computers and laptops were especially strong, he said.

At the Almeda Mall J.C. Penney, customers were waiting outside the store at 3 a.m., lured by door-buster specials on women's leather jackets, DVD players and other items. The store opened at 5 a.m.

"We're swamped," said store manager Woody McPike later in the morning. "I'm a little surprised by how good business has been, with energy prices and the natural disasters."

Houston Penney stores were performing "well above" projections for Black Friday, McPike said.

Retailers won't release their Black Friday sales figures until after the weekend. The day after Thanksgiving got the name Black Friday because it traditionally marks the day retailers "get back in the black," or show a profit, for the year.

Last year, the Thanksgiving weekend took in 9.2 percent of all holiday sales, less than the 9.5 percent posted in 2003.

In recent years, the Saturday before Christmas has been the biggest shopping day.

Among the nation's retailers this Black Friday, "it seems like the promotions are aggressive and widespread, particularly in apparel," McIntosh said.

Retailers generally like the cold weather at this time of year because it gets consumers in the mood to buy warm apparel. This year, however, cold is a two-edged sword: The frigid weather also reminds shoppers of the higher heating bills they'll be paying this season, McIntosh said.

It must be so depressing to be a Liberal these days, what with a strong economy, strong belief in the chances for success in the Iraq war, low unemployment, such bad news all the way around. Woe is Liberals. Of course they haven't realized the extent of their problems because they still believe that the election results from this November were some watershed event rather than a confirmation of the status quo. True things are not so swell for the President, but then (shh! don't tell Democrats this) President Bush isn't running for office anymore. Ah me. Inflation is low, GDP growth is strong, taxes are okay, but should be lower, unemployment is low, I mean, What's a Liberal to do?

Full Story: Positive Outlook for Retail Sales

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