Although most statistics about Black Friday sales at general retailers were more positive than expected given the dismal state of the economy, observers speculated that crowds that swarmed stores Friday--and sadly caused the death of a Wal-Mart employee in New York State--were drawn mostly by unsustainable, unprofitable discounts. They also noted that store traffic apparently trailed off on Saturday and Sunday.
Still, some of the news was positive. According to the Wall Street Journal, ShopperTrak estimated that store sales rose 3% compared to last year. ShopperTrak also said foot traffic was up 2%. A National Retail Federation survey found that shoppers spent an average of $372.57 during the weekend, up more than 7%. An America's Research Group survey found that 70% of shoppers bought only deeply discounted items. For its part, comScore said that online spending on Black Friday rose 1%.
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"The crowds also were spilling into Anderson's Book Shop," reported the Naperville, Ill., Sun, which interviewed bookseller Erin Keables. She "said this year's Black Friday sales were better than those last year. And on Saturday, the store drew a steady stream of customers for story time programs and a visit from Santa Claus."
"It's been O.K. this fall," Keables added. "A little bit down from last fall but, overall, we're holding our own."
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Santa Claus arrived early, literally and figuratively, for Arlene DeMonstoy, owner of Ye Olde Vineyard antiques shop and bookstore, North East, Pa. She told the Erie Times-News "she was buoyed by North East's version of Black Friday when Santa arrived in town Friday. . . . 'We had lots of families, a big turnout,' she said, adding her sales--especially of her slashed-price used books--are up this holiday season rather than down. She believes it is because people are looking at ways to save money."
"Books are a specialty here and they're much more affordable than new," she added.
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KITV-4 in Honolulu, Hawaii, reported that "while thousands of people did their Black Friday shopping at malls and major big box stores, another group of customers spent their money at small, independent stores. . . . Bookstore owner Pat Banning said her customers keep coming to support the local flavor."
"It would be sad if that flavor that we give to the community goes away," said Banning, who owns Bookends Bookstore, Kailua. "It would be too bad. Plain vanilla is a lovely flavor, but you know, you need a little peppermint in there occasionally, too."
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Rick Havlak, owner of the Bennington Bookshop, Bennington, Vt., told the Banner that sales for the Thanksgiving weekend as a whole were "a much better barometer for me" than Black Friday alone in terms of holiday season potential. The Banner added that Havlak considers the week before Christmas "a much busier time for the bookstore," though Black Friday patrons "were definitely Christmas shopping."