Black Friday rakes in $10 billion

Shoppers barely waited for their turkey to digest as they flooded stores and malls this weekend at the start of the holiday shopping season, spending over $10 billion on Friday alone.

Customers started spending at midnight after Thanksgiving, dubbed Black Friday, going to sales for electronics, toys and clothing. Companies that reported strong sales included Best Buy and other electronics stores, as well as discount department stores such as Target and Wal-Mart, and toy stores such as Toys-R-Us.

“This was a really good start. … There seemed to be a lot of pent-up demand,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak RCT, which tracks total sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets. ShopperTrak reported late Sunday that combined sales on Friday and Saturday rose 7.2 percent to $16.4 billion from the same two-day period a year ago.

Total sales on Friday increased 8.3 percent from the same day a year ago. Martin had expected increases no greater than 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Internet research firm comScore Inc. reported a 22 percent gain in online sales on the day after Thanksgiving compared with the same day a year ago, and estimated online sales would exceed $700 million online Monday, the official kickoff to the online shopping season, referred to as “Cyber Monday.”

Desiree Li, a second-year psychobiology student, said she arrived at her local Best Buy store 10 minutes after it opened at 5 a.m., and the lines were out the door.

“It was kind of ridiculous,” she said.

Li added that, while she needed a printer, the crowds were too hectic and she was unable to find anyone to help her make a decision.

“(It was) kind of like a free-for-all. I didn’t end up getting anything but DVDs,” she said.

She said it was her second year shopping on Black Friday, but last year’s sales were better and shoppers were spending more.

“When I went last year, there was a lot more excitement,” she said. “I think (shoppers are) spending less. … (I) didn’t hear of many good deals this year.”

Frederick Crawford, managing director at AlixPartners, a consulting company, said that amid economic challenges, people are buying fewer gifts.

“Clearly, it was mission-based shopping,” Crawford said. “People had their list, and they were very specific in what they were looking for.”

Retailers nationwide made big efforts to draw customers in with special hours and “doorbuster” sales, paying special attention to popular items.

Gail Lavielle, a spokeswoman at Sears Holding Corporation, which operates Kmart and Sears stores, said it zeroed in on great deals on electronics, instead of offering deep discounts on a wide range of products. Still, analysts say frustrations were high among shoppers who couldn’t get their hands on limited deals at many different stores.

Lavielle noted that the turnout Friday was better than a year ago, and customer flow was steady throughout the weekend. Both Kmart and Sears sold out a significant inventory of their flat-panel TVs. Other hot items were GPS receivers, game consoles such as the hard-to-find Nintendo Wii, and digital cameras.

Toys-R-Us chairman and CEO Jerry Storch said the toy seller drew a strong turnout Friday for its 101 early morning specials. He said he was pleased with traffic on Saturday and Sunday as well.

“This was a robust start to the holiday season,” Storch said. Popular items included anything related to Disney’s hot franchises “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical,” video games, consoles, an interactive parrot from Hasbro, and radio-controlled helicopters and planes.

Li said she visited other stores and malls, shopping until noon on Friday, but she was disappointed by the sales, spending about $100.

“It really wasn’t worth it to wait through all the lines,” she said.

She added that she believes that shoppers who knew what they wanted were better off.

“If you are looking for something really specific … then it’s a really good deal.”

With reports from Bruin wire services.

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