[quote]NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- There were more shoppers in the nation's malls and big-box stores on Black Friday than there were last year, according to a report issued Saturday. But retailers still aren't sure that starting the holiday shopping season on Thanksgiving night proved successful. ShopperTrak, which measures and analyzes foot traffic at more than 50,000 retail locations nationwide, says Black Friday store visits climbed 3.5% from last year to more than 307.67 million.
But Black Friday retail sales fell 1.8% to $11.2 billion, the firm said.
"While foot traffic did increase on Friday, those Thursday deals attracted some of the spending that's usually meant for Friday," said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak's founder, in a statement.
ShopperTrak said foot traffic rose in most of the nation except for the West, where it was down more than 11%.
"Black Friday shopping continues to expand into Thanksgiving Day and will impact the way we look at all of the 'Black' weekend results, since more shopping hours allows for more shopping visits and a smoothing of sales across all of the days," said Martin.
Shoppers took advantage of early Thanksgiving night openings by retailers such as Wal-Mart ([URL="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=WMT&source=story_quote_link"]WMT[/URL], [URL="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2255.html?iid=EL"]Fortune 500[/URL]), Target ([URL="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=TGT&source=story_quote_link"]TGT[/URL], [URL="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2303.html?iid=EL"]Fortune 500[/URL]),Sears ([URL="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=SHLD&source=story_quote_link"]SHLD[/URL], [URL="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2292.html?iid=EL"]Fortune 500[/URL]) and Toys R Us.
[URL="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/24/pf/black-friday-traffic/money.cnn.com/2012/11/23/pf/black-friday-2012/index.html?iid=EL"]Related: Black Friday shoppers out in full force[/URL]
"By opening even earlier, the retailers have been able to attract a broader spectrum of consumers to participate in Black Friday -- not everyone is willing to wake up at 4 a.m.," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group. "They definitely got a lot more business early and upfront."
Shoppers started lining up at the Sears at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Ga., around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, and by the time the retailer opened, there was a crowd of about 500 people, said Nick Nicolosi, the mall's general manager. When the clock struck midnight and other stores opened, Nicolosi estimated that about 5,000 people were waiting to storm the stores -- the biggest Black Friday crowd North Point has seen since it began hosting its Rockin Shoppin Eve event five years ago.
La Plaza Mall in McAllen, Texas, had to use its off-duty police officers and security to control traffic outside of stores.
"Many stores including Abercrombie & Fitch ([URL="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=ANF&source=story_quote_link"]ANF[/URL]) had to close their store entrances temporarily as they had reached capacity with hundreds of shoppers waiting to enter the stores," said Isabel Rodriguez-Vera, area director of marketing.
[URL="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/24/pf/black-friday-traffic/money.cnn.com/2012/11/23/technology/cyber-monday-deals/index.html?iid=EL"]Related: Cyber Monday is already here[/URL]
Not everyone was willing to wait in line. [URL="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/23/technology/cyber-monday-deals/index.html?iid=EL"]Online sales soared[/URL] over the two-day shopping period, climbing more than 17% from last year on Thanksgiving and nearly 21% on Black Friday, according to IBM Benchmark. Sales made from mobile devices grew by nearly two-thirds over 2011.
A long list of online retailers -- including Wal-Mart, Amazon ([URL="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=AMZN&source=story_quote_link"]AMZN[/URL],[URL="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10810.html?iid=EL"]Fortune 500[/URL]), Best Buy ([URL="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=BBY&source=story_quote_link"]BBY[/URL], [URL="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/10034.html?iid=EL"]Fortune 500[/URL]) and The Disney Store -- unveiled "pre-Black Friday deals" even before Thanksgiving.
"We've absolutely seen this whole weekend turn into one big promotional event," said Jay Henderson, strategy director for IBM Smarter Commerce. "Black Friday deals are no longer just for the [brick-and-mortar] store, and Cyber Monday deals are no longer just for Monday."
However, the initial surge is likely to be temporary. By Sunday morning, Cohen expects shopper traffic to fall back to normal pre-holiday sales levels. "There are more hours to shop, but consumers don't have more relatives or more money in their pocket, so once all the dust settles, we won't see too much growth overall," he said. [URL="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/24/pf/black-friday-traffic/index.html?hpt=hp_t1&iid=EL#TOP"][IMG]http://i.cdn.turner.com/money/images/bug.gif[/IMG][/URL]
Source: [URL="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/24/pf/black-friday-traffic/index.html?hpt=hp_t1"]CNN[/URL][/quote]
I know this isn't all that sensationalist but I find it interesting nonetheless. I also find it a bit disturbing; I'm vehemently against the idea of Black Friday sales encroaching into Thanksgiving, which is one of only two days that retail workers actually get off every year. Still, it appears it was successful enough to noticeably reduce Friday sales figures, which means companies will likely continue this trend and push it even further. Thoughts?
I don't really mind staying up and working the opening midnight shift for black friday, but I feel sorry for the poor saps that work for K-Mart.
[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;38584214]I know this isn't all that sensationalist but I find it interesting nonetheless. I also find it a bit disturbing; I'm vehemently against the idea of Black Friday sales encroaching into Thanksgiving, which is one of only two days that retail workers actually get off every year. Still, it appears it was successful enough to noticeably reduce Friday sales figures, which means companies will likely continue this trend and push it even further. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
I find that pretty disturbing too, it means there is basically no hope of retailers backing down from shitting on their employee's holiday next year.
Add to that the new policies of everyone being part time with no benefits and on call shifts where you don't know if you're working or not until an hour before...working anywhere in the retail sector is turning into a nightmare.
Consumerism will kill this country, that's for sure. I always feel like (although maybe that's the same with other large countries) it's one step forward three steps back with the US.
Says the guy with a hammer and sickle avatar
[QUOTE=Jund;38584456]Says the guy with a hammer and sickle avatar[/QUOTE]
Am I wrong, though? Consumerism is perfectly fine to a reasonable extent, but when you have people on welfare with iPhones and teenagers raging over the fact that their brand new phone isn't as nice as the next big thing, it starts to wear and tear on a society as a whole. I mean, hell, I'm sure you saw the video of the Walmart Black Friday chaos, didn't you?
That's the sort of insane consumerism I'm talking about. People ripping and tearing at each other for fucking [b]STUFF[/b]. The second we lose our humanity because we'd rather trample on someone to get to the next big sale instead of treating each other with respect is the moment when things get out of control. The fact that Black Friday is slowly creeping into a holiday that is all about giving thanks for what we already have is disgusting enough, but now it's easier than filming the chaos and putting it up on Youtube to see how horrifying it is.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38584514]Am I wrong, though? Consumerism is perfectly fine to a reasonable extent, but when you have people on welfare with iPhones and teenagers raging over the fact that their brand new phone isn't as nice as the next big thing, it starts to wear and tear on a society as a whole. I mean, hell, I'm sure you saw the video of the Walmart Black Friday chaos, didn't you?
That's the sort of insane consumerism I'm talking about. People ripping and tearing at each other for fucking [b]STUFF[/b]. The second we lose our humanity because we'd rather trample on someone to get to the next big sale instead of treating each other with respect is the moment when things get out of control. The fact that Black Friday is slowly creeping into a holiday that is all about giving thanks for what we already have is disgusting enough, but now it's easier than filming the chaos and putting it up on Youtube to see how horrifying it is.[/QUOTE]
well, anything for the year's newest flatscreen, right?
[QUOTE=Mon;38584521]well, anything for the year's newest flatscreen, right?[/QUOTE]
That's my entire point! We're disregarding common human decency (if there is such a bloody thing) for material wealth.
I didn't buy anything Black Friday, I just watched crowds of people and practiced parking in "compact spots".
I did all my Black Friday shopping on Amazon. No dying for me, no sir.
I bought shit online. Then again I always shop online.
Amazon is stealing all my money this year.
were deaths by trampling up or down? only black friday statistic i truly care about
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38584514]Am I wrong, though? Consumerism is perfectly fine to a reasonable extent, but when you have people on welfare with iPhones and teenagers raging over the fact that their brand new phone isn't as nice as the next big thing, it starts to wear and tear on a society as a whole. I mean, hell, I'm sure you saw the video of the Walmart Black Friday chaos, didn't you?
That's the sort of insane consumerism I'm talking about. People ripping and tearing at each other for fucking [b]STUFF[/b]. The second we lose our humanity because we'd rather trample on someone to get to the next big sale instead of treating each other with respect is the moment when things get out of control. The fact that Black Friday is slowly creeping into a holiday that is all about giving thanks for what we already have is disgusting enough, but now it's easier than filming the chaos and putting it up on Youtube to see how horrifying it is.[/QUOTE]
Yes, because people will become savages and start killing eachother because of a fucking phone and elitism.
Grow up. People are dumb, but they aren't fucking savages. The whole concept you're making up has been presented plenty of times before and has been refuted every single fucking time by the scientific community.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
Yes, trampling happens, but it also happens at soccer games and anything which's purpose is to draw large crowds, and Black Friday just happens to be one of them. Kids post dumb shit on Youtube because their frontal lobe isn't fully developed and they can't tell right from wrong.
And I don't know about you, but whilst I really like stuff, I wouldn't kill another person over it. If you think you can't control [i]yourself[/i], that's something you should see a shrink for.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;38584818]Yes, because people will become savages and start killing eachother because of a fucking phone and elitism.
Grow up. People are dumb, but they aren't fucking savages. The whole concept you're making up has been presented plenty of times before and has been refuted every single fucking time by the scientific community.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
Yes, trampling happens, but it also happens at soccer games and anything which's purpose is to draw large crowds, and Black Friday just happens to be one of them. Kids post dumb shit on Youtube because their frontal lobe isn't fully developed and they can't tell right from wrong.
And I don't know about you, but whilst I really like stuff, I wouldn't kill another person over it. If you think you can't control [i]yourself[/i], that's something you should see a shrink for.[/QUOTE]
#yolo
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O6IMYSSs7c&feature=channel&list=UL[/media]
Telling me to grow up isn't the best way to start a discussion, but sure, I'll play ball.
I'm not saying that people are turning into savages (well, not mostly) and killing each other. I am saying that they are disregarding common manners and decency in the name of getting their hands on cheap shit. Also, "scientific community"? I'd love to know what you're talking about. I might have been a bit extreme in saying that it would cause the collapse of American society (in fact, I was being quite over-dramatic, apologies), but I truly do believe that our blatant consumerism and lust for... well, stuff is a disturbingly prevalent hallmark of American culture.
The fact that you, and I, and most of the people on this website wouldn't stoop so low as the individuals in the video that I mentioned earlier have stooped shows that it isn't necessarily a mentality of the majority. That being said, why not attempt to curtail things before it becomes that way, eh?
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
Wow, I'm fuckin' prolific when I'm tired. I should write more essays this way.
I heard the shoplifting was good this year though.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;38584818]Yes, because people will become savages and start killing eachother because of a fucking phone and elitism.
Grow up. People are dumb, but they aren't fucking savages. The whole concept you're making up has been presented plenty of times before and has been refuted every single fucking time by the scientific community.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
Yes, trampling happens, but it also happens at soccer games and anything which's purpose is to draw large crowds, and Black Friday just happens to be one of them. Kids post dumb shit on Youtube because their frontal lobe isn't fully developed and they can't tell right from wrong.
And I don't know about you, but whilst I really like stuff, I wouldn't kill another person over it. If you think you can't control [i]yourself[/i], that's something you should see a shrink for.[/QUOTE]
if you're ever going to bother saying scientists figured this shit out, you might as well save your ass and post the source in your first post.
Right now it just looks like you're hot air.
[QUOTE]But Black Friday retail sales fell 1.8% to $11.2 billion, the firm said.[/QUOTE]
[I]Only[/I] $11.2 billion? God help us all.
[QUOTE=BeardyDuck;38584861]#yolo
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O6IMYSSs7c&feature=channel&list=UL[/media][/QUOTE]
And guess what, people do the same things at other events. This just happens to be a consumer-based one (Black Friday). Every single FIFA world cup there have been people trampled and killed. [i]Every single one[/i].
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;38584950]And guess what, people do the same things at other events. This just happens to be a consumer-based one (Black Friday). Every single FIFA world cup there have been people trampled and killed. [i]Every single one[/i].[/QUOTE]
Does that somehow justify it? You're comparing a shopping event to a sports riot, you'd think that would put it in perspective for you.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38584963]Does that somehow justify it? You're comparing a shopping event to a sports riot, you'd think that would put it in perspective for you.[/QUOTE]
You'd think that it'd be pretty obvious that it is the same damn thing. Death brought on by the fact that people are too fucking rude to set aside their need for instant gratification to the point of it causing other's to die.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38584886]Telling me to grow up isn't the best way to start a discussion, but sure, I'll play ball.
I'm not saying that people are turning into savages (well, not mostly) and killing each other. I am saying that they are disregarding common manners and decency in the name of getting their hands on cheap shit. Also, "scientific community"? I'd love to know what you're talking about. I might have been a bit extreme in saying that it would cause the collapse of American society (in fact, I was being quite over-dramatic, apologies), but I truly do believe that our blatant consumerism and lust for... well, stuff is a disturbingly prevalent hallmark of American culture.
The fact that you, and I, and most of the people on this website wouldn't stoop so low as the individuals in the video that I mentioned earlier have stooped shows that it isn't necessarily a mentality of the majority. That being said, why not attempt to curtail things before it becomes that way, eh?
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
Wow, I'm fuckin' prolific when I'm tired. I should write more essays this way.[/QUOTE]
People never really had manners, that's something reserved for the educated. People are not turning into savages, that's just something reserved for the uneducated.
As for my sources, I don't have any online one's at the moment and I'm not about to search for any at 2:13 in the morning. I have a New Scientist magazine next to me right now that talks about it, and I'm pretty sure I have a Times' article with the same thing in it. If you guys really want to know these things you're going to have to search them yourself for now, I may edit my post in the morning when I get up with a link.
And yeah, you were being over-dramatic with the whole 'collapse of American society thing', and that's mostly what I was criticizing more than anything. And one thing we have to realize is that too much of anything is bad. Too much capitalism, too much socialism, too much communism, too much consumerism, and too much isolationism are all terrible ideas, but the combination of them all produces an amazing result. Our society would stagnate without consumerism. The want and need for [i]stuff[/i] drives companies to make new technologies to feed our need and want of that shit. We want something [i]and we want it now[/i]. So we make things. It's brilliant, really.
And I love the sentence structure of that last line, just putting that out there.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=draugur;38584977]You'd think that it'd be pretty obvious that it is the same damn thing. Death brought on by the fact that people are too fucking rude to set aside their need for instant gratification to the point of it causing other's to die.[/QUOTE]
That's the point. And people have been like this forever. Hell, it was even worse decades ago. From what I've read, society has been getting a hell of a lot better than what it used to be.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
That's just my take.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38584533]That's my entire point! We're disregarding common human decency (if there is such a bloody thing) for material wealth.[/QUOTE]
Hey, when you're able to display in a crisp, 1080p image, then I'll give a shit about you.
Until then, let me have at that flatscreen.
[QUOTE=Frisk;38585015]Hey, when you're able to display in a crisp, 1080p image, then I'll give a shit about you.
Until then, let me have at that flatscreen.[/QUOTE]
As long as you didn't stomp on an old lady's face for it, sure :v:
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;38584998]People never really had manners, that's something reserved for the educated. People are not turning into savages, that's just something reserved for the uneducated.
As for my sources, I don't have any online one's at the moment and I'm not about to search for any at 2:13 in the morning. I have a New Scientist magazine next to me right now that talks about it, and I'm pretty sure I have a Times' article with the same thing in it. If you guys really want to know these things you're going to have to search them yourself for now, I may edit my post in the morning when I get up with a link.
And yeah, you were being over-dramatic with the whole 'collapse of American society thing', and that's mostly what I was criticizing more than anything. And one thing we have to realize is that too much of anything is bad. Too much capitalism, too much socialism, too much communism, too much consumerism, and too much isolationism are all terrible ideas, but the combination of them all produces an amazing result. Our society would stagnate without consumerism. The want and need for [i]stuff[/i] drives companies to make new technologies to feed our need and want of that shit. We want something [i]and we want it now[/i]. So we make things. It's brilliant, really.
And I love the sentence structure of that last line, just putting that out there.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
That's the point. And people have been like this forever. Hell, it was even worse decades ago. From what I've read, society has been getting a hell of a lot better than what it used to be.
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
That's just my take.[/QUOTE]
I see what you're saying, and I appreciate the dialog. It's this kind of shit that needs to happen more often, not the absolutely horrific gridlock because of the bull-headed stubbornness that's been breeding in this country for the last few decades.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38585022]As long as you didn't stomp on an old lady's face for it, sure :v:[/QUOTE]
Then what's the point of Black Friday if I can't stomp on an old lady's face!
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38585022]As long as you didn't stomp on an old lady's face for it, sure :v:
[editline]25th November 2012[/editline]
I see what you're saying, and I appreciate the dialog. It's this kind of shit that needs to happen more often, not the absolutely horrific gridlock because of the bull-headed stubbornness that's been breeding in this country for the last few decades.[/QUOTE]
One thing you're right about is the whole stubbornness. American culture is becoming more polarized and that's because of the political atmosphere more than anything. If it wasn't for fucking Reagan we wouldn't be in this mess.
I was working at my Walmart from 6:30PM Thursday to 7:00AM Friday.
And our store had our customers under almost full control. We had enough employees to keep an eye on everything that went on and had customers lined up were there were specialty items going on sale.
Anyone being unruly were kicked out of the store.
Those videos of a store being a hell hole, seem to be limited to places were the management just say 'fuck it' and open the flood gates.
I worked 7 am to 4 pm on Black Friday, then the same again on the Saturday after. I saw the sales report for my Subway (which is in a mall food court) and we made a grand total of $4,931.23. It was more than last year, according to the owner, but not a record breaker.
I'm tired as hell, but happy I don't have to do 7-4 again today on Sunday.
Cyber Monday > Black Friday
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38584514]Am I wrong, though? Consumerism is perfectly fine to a reasonable extent, but when you have people on welfare with iPhones and teenagers raging over the fact that their brand new phone isn't as nice as the next big thing, it starts to wear and tear on a society as a whole. I mean, hell, I'm sure you saw the video of the Walmart Black Friday chaos, didn't you?
That's the sort of insane consumerism I'm talking about. People ripping and tearing at each other for fucking [b]STUFF[/b]. The second we lose our humanity because we'd rather trample on someone to get to the next big sale instead of treating each other with respect is the moment when things get out of control. The fact that Black Friday is slowly creeping into a holiday that is all about giving thanks for what we already have is disgusting enough, but now it's easier than filming the chaos and putting it up on Youtube to see how horrifying it is.[/QUOTE]
Cry me a river. If you don't like it, go live in the woods. It turned out really well for Christopher McCandless.
[QUOTE=Scot;38587783]Cry me a river. If you don't like it, go live in the woods. It turned out really well for Christopher McCandless.[/QUOTE]
Some A* debating right here.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
