Retail Sales Shift From Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday

A spokesperson for the store told Independent.co.uk: “Our Black Friday event was incredibly popular last year so to ensure colleagues have enough time to set up for the event this year, we will be closing all participating stores at 12am and reopening them at 5am”. But Tracy, who lives in Queens, N.Y., plans to spread out the majority of her $4,000 holiday budget throughout the season. With TV deals offering $700 off the original price, Torrance resident Giancarlo Russo rushed to a nearby Best Buy with his dad even though he isn’t a fan of Black Friday.

Meanwhile, Chip Gentry in Atlanta headed out to stores instead of purchasing items online.

She said discounting levels online averaged 26 and 24 percent on both days respectively, and remained similar to last year’s levels.

FOX6 News was out with shoppers most of the day on Friday, and none of the areas have seen insane, jam-packed crowds.

For some shoppers, like Aaron Cherry, this was their first year experiencing the Black Friday commotion. Regardless of the time, shoppers said they saved big bucks. Though still an important day to drive sales, Black Friday has become something of a halfway point in a holiday shopping marathon.

The NRF changed its surveying methodology and said the report is not comparable to last year’s numbers. The report also found that 60 per cent of Canadians bought gifts online in 2014. That’s below the almost $381 figure last year, but the group also said this year’s spending number is not comparable to those in previous years.

Walmart US chief Merchandising Officer Steve Bratspies said, “Thanksgiving was an exciting day”.

So the canvassed a range of views on the shopping phenomenon that is Black Friday.

But this was not reflected on the high street and in supermarkets where there were no signs of the huge crowds which gathered a year ago, or the scuffles which broke out as customers fought over big-ticket items.

Around 135.8 million Americans are estimated to shop online and in-stores during the four day weekend, National Retail Foundation reported.

Business was brisk but not overwhelming at a Macy’s in Kansas City, Missouri at 10 a.m. on Friday as a cold, steady drizzle fell.

They included four moms from Clarion – all elementary teachers – in matching black sweatshirts emblazoned with “Black Friday Shopping Team” in glittery print.

While one shopper tweets “Can’t wait for #BlackFriday”, another begs: “pls don’t support any retail stores with black friday deals today. just stay home w ur family or something”. “It’s hard enough battling against big shops near us, so with Black Friday it’s impossible”.

Cars and buses packed the parking lot.

“There was no one here”, he said. Did you shop digitally on Black Friday and how will it affect your choice to participate in Cyber Monday?