Local Black Friday sales seem in step with nationwide trend
Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008
A local Chamber of Commerce official said he believes Northwest Arkansas mirrored positive Black Friday sales reported nationally.
“I know nationally it was up over a year ago,” said Bill Ramsey, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.
That being the case, he said, it probably was up in Northwest Arkansas.
“We’re usually a step ahead of what’s going on on the national level,” he said.
Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving, which traditionally marks the start of the holiday shopping season and is a day when retailers hope droves of holiday shoppers will turn out to help them turn a profit and put their finances in the black.
The world’s largest retail trade association, the National Retail Federation, sponsored a 2008 Black Friday weekend survey. It was conducted by BIGresearch, which is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides consumer insights gathered online using very large sample sizes.
The survey showed that more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites during Black Friday weekend — up from 147 million shoppers last year. Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41 billion.
Ramsey, a former retailer himself, took note while he was out and about shopping in Fayetteville this weekend.
“I’m very optimistic,” he said.
While Ramsey said he did not have any specific local information “beyond just a feel and the few people I’ve talked to,” he said, “I think Friday was just crazy from every report I’m getting.”
He referred to “word of mouth” and “talking to people.”
Ramsey said he has not received any negative comments about Black Friday from local merchants.
He said he believes the holiday shopping reports bode well for the sales tax in the county and city.
“I have been very pleased that Fayetteville sales tax continues to grow, to show positive numbers,” he said.
Special Black Friday sales began at 5 a.m. at Wal-Mart stores on Sixth Street and Mall Avenue in Fayetteville.
John Simley, Wal-Mart spokesman, did not provide any specific sales numbers. They will be reported later this week but as part of an overall monthly sales report.
Simley said the sales report released early Thursday morning will include sales for the four-week period that ended midnight Nov. 28, which was Black Friday.
Talking about shopping trends, however, Simley said, “We have seen a greater proportion of sales being made with cash than with credit or debit at the stores,” he said, referring to Wal-Mart stores in the U.S.
He said it has been trending that way since the beginning of the year.
One of the biggest parts of Black Friday in Fayetteville was Best Buy, which opened its doors at 5 a.m. with “doorbusters” on such items as LCD flat-panel TVs and GPS systems. After repeated calls to both, representatives from the Fayetteville store and corporate offices did not provide any information — general or specific — on Black Friday results.
Representatives from the Fayetteville Kohl’s department store — that store opened at 4 a.m. on Black Friday — referred questions to corporate headquarters. While she said she could not provide specific sales information, Kristen Cunningham, pubic relations coordinator out of the corporate office in Menomonee Falls, Wis., said the GPS systems were “very popular” on Black Friday, as well as a seven-piece luggage set that was on sale. All toys were 50 percent off on Black Friday, and she said those were popular, too.
Stephen Leavell, general manager of the Target store in Fayetteville, would not provide specific numbers, but said, “Sales overall were up from last year.
“We were very pleasantly surprised to see the great turnout we had,” he said. The doors opened at 6 a.m. on Black Friday. Based on Black Friday, Leavell said, “We’re going to see a good fourth quarter.”
He said hot items on Black Friday were a Westinghouse 26-inch LCD TV for $299.
He said the GPS systems sold “very well” and were in stock for about three hours. There were more in stock on Saturday.
He said a 10.3-megapixel digital camera did well, as did video gaming systems.
Steve Melody, owner of Melody’s Choices gift and toy stores at the Northwest Arkansas Mall and Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers, said Black Friday went well.
“All in all, we were real close to last year’s figures, so it was very encouraging for the holiday season,” Melody said.
It was difficult to pin down popular items, he said.
“We’re so diversified. We have over 30,000 items, so it’s just all over the board,” he said.
He mentioned Pandora jewelry and Vera Bradley bags doing “really well in the gift areas,” as well as the holiday ornaments.
In the toys area, he said, “we did real well with Webkinz and Thomas the Tank Wooden Rail.”
“Probably one of the neatest things that we did at all locations was something we call the Elf on the Shelf,” he said.
The elf watches over children during the day and “reports” back to Santa Claus at night.
“It really keeps children on their best behavior,” Melody said, adding that he has received positive feedback from parents.
“It’s for those children who believe in Santa Claus,” he said.
He said the elf comes in “a very nice gift box” with a book that explains things.
He said the Elf on the Shelf has been a runaway hit.
Melody said he sees positive signs for retail.
“I see that there’s a great deal of optimism in the air for December,” he said, referring to feedback from various vendors and sales representatives who “travel the road.”
“I’m getting the sense that people probably won’t spend quite as much as they did last year, but they’re not going to not have Christmas, because I think Christmas is such a part of the warm and fuzzy feeling we want.”
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