Retailers are ready to navigate an unpredictable market
Shortly before 5:30 a.m. Friday, Lorena Hiep waited patiently for the Radio Shack at the Mall in Columbia to open its doors.
Hiep, of Columbia, was first in line for the store’s 6 a.m. opening and knew just want she wanted — a 10-inch digital picture frame for $100, on sale from $180.
“I’m here just for that,” said Hiep, who had already scored a five-piece luggage set for $38 from J.C. Penney. “It would be hard to find otherwise.”
The Black Fridays of shoppers sifting through stores to uncover the perfect deal are over. More than ever, shoppers like Hiep braved an icy economy this weekend armed with a specific list of deals they wanted — and a set amount they planned to spend.
Black Friday has always been the big kickoff to the holiday shopping season, said Wendy Ellis, marketing manager for Arundel Mills Mall. But from Dec. 10 until Christmas, last-minute shoppers make almost every day at the mall like Black Friday.
“This place is just crazy until Christmas,” Ellis said.
Retailers know they can expect the huge crowds, but the question of how much those shoppers will spend looms large. Poor Black Friday sales figures could cast a pall over the rest of the shopping season and curb extra spending.
“We always look at [Black Friday] as coming out of the gate,” said Jain Trader, manager of the Macy’s at White Marsh Mall. “But we can’t say it’s going to be the whole season. We’re thinking the busiest is going to be the weekend before Christmas.”
About 45 percent of consumers planned to shop on Black Friday or this weekend according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers, up from 36 percent last year. A separate survey by the National Retail Federation, however, expects as many as 128 million people to shop this weekend, down from 135 million last year.
“This year we focused more on e-mail blasts, Web sites, the technology,” said Lisa Bisenius, associate general manager at Towson Town Center and White Marsh Mall. “The customers … know what the specials are, what they want to buy. They come with magazines, they’re much more efficient. And the retailers know that.”
Most retailers have answered the only way they can — cut prices and stay positive.
At the Mall in Columbia, the Aeropostale clothing store was swamped with customers, as the retailer advertised 50 percent to 70 percent sales on all items throughout the day. The Disney Store was packed early, offering 20 percent off all items until 10 a.m., and Kay Jewelers advertised 60 percent off items.
The Bass Pro Shop at Arundel Mills Mall opened at 6 a.m., but several hundred shoppers had been waiting outside the store since 3 a.m., said store general manager Aaron Frazier.
And almost everyone in line knew what they wanted, Frazier said. A $220 portable GPS system on sale from $340, Redhead men’s jeans for $10 and a Bass Pro fleece for $10.
“We would see families come in, and it was like, ‘Mom go here, Dad go here, the kids go here,’ ” Frazier said. “They definitely came in with a plan to get everything they wanted.”
Some local retailers said Black Friday sales might not be the best indication of stores’ overall holiday performance.
“I’ve always viewed Black Friday as its own thing,” said Kevin Luskin, owner of the Big Screen Store with locations in Maryland and Virginia. “I don’t think Black Friday indicates anything … because it’s a function of itself, it’s almost become its own holiday.”
Bisenius said Towson Town Center and White Marsh Mall are both profitable and are on par with national sales figure averages. But she said this Black Friday and holiday retail season could be much more important than usual.
“It hasn’t been an easy year for retailers, and they’re looking to today to heal,” Bisenius said Friday. “There’s less impulsive buying, people are smarter about not buying frivolously.”
