Saturday, November 24, 2007
Black Friday - Time-CNN vs. Reality
I admit to having no clue as to the final outcome of holiday sales; however, you just have to read these two articles.
They should give you a thought that either the "experts" also have no clue, or that certain media outlets seek out and publish negative economic commentary...
And then, the results are in!...
They should give you a thought that either the "experts" also have no clue, or that certain media outlets seek out and publish negative economic commentary...
Here, from TIME-CNN, on the day before Thanksgiving, Kristina Dell reports:
"The supposedly biggest shopping day of the year falls on the earliest possible date, November 23, giving Americans 32 days before Christmas to find the perfect gift. But with the specter of a possible looming recession and a lack of must-have items in stores, fewer Americans are likely to leave the couch and hit the mall with the same kind of alacrity and determination they have in years past. 'Black Friday is going to be a gray Friday,' says Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at the NPD Group, a market research firm in Port Washington, New York.
Most forecasts share Cohen's pessimistic outlook, predicting that sales growth this holiday season will be anywhere from 3.3% to 4.5%, down as much as 1.6 percentage points from last year's comparable 4.9% sales growth."
And then, the results are in!...
As reported by the AP's Anne D'Innocenzio:
"The nation's retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at retail outlets across the country.
According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.
"This is a really strong number. ... You can't have a good season unless it starts well," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, citing strength across all regions."
