The holiday shopping season appears to have gotten off to a robust start, as consumers packed the nation’s retail stores yesterday.
Firm results will begin trickling out over the weekend and early next week, when retailers report sales figures for November.
While remaining cautious, some retailers offered anecdotes yesterday that seemed to suggest consumers are more willing to buy – at the right price.
It was the special discounts, coupons and gift certificates – many of which were good only in the early hours of the morning – that drove consumers from their warm beds to wait in the pre-dawn cold.
Over 700 people lined up at the Filene’s store at the Westfarms mall in Farmington, Conn., before the store opened at 6 a.m. to get a free $15 gift card.
Shoppers eager for early bird discounts of digital cameras, educational toys and bicycles began lining up at Wal-Mart Stores as early as 4 a.m., said Melissa Berryhill, a spokeswoman.
Wal-Mart will report Black Friday sales figures today. Last year, the company sold $1.43 billion worth of merchandise the day after Thanksgiving.
“We’ve done a better job of having popular items in stock this year,” Berryhill said. “Last year we sold out of some items in the first hour.”
Bloomingdale’s spokeswoman Anne Keating said the company’s Manhattan flagship sold more merchandise by 2 p.m. yesterday than it did last year.
“We’ve had a terrific start to the season,” she said.
Among the hottest items this year are DVD players for $50 or less.
Wal-Mart is selling a combination DVD/CD player by Apex for $29.87.
Sears, Roebuck also is selling Apex DVD players, on sale for $27.99, about a third less than the regular price. Spokesman Bill Masterson said the players sold out of several stores by mid-morning. Customers who arrived too late were given rain checks and delivery was promised sometime before Christmas.
Bloomingdale’s, too, is tempting customers with a Samsung five disc CD/DVD/MP3 player. With a regularly priced value of $150, the player can be had for $49.99 throughout the weekend with a purchase of $200 or more.
Both Toys ‘R’ Us and KB Toys reported brisk sales of Go-Go My Walking Pup, a mechanical dog by Fur Real Friends that wags her tail, moves her head and makes other lifelike movements. The pup was $35.99 at Toys ‘R’ Us and $49.99 at KB Toys.
“We don’t think the crowds were any bigger than they were in the past,” said KB Toys spokesman John Reilly. “But the traffic was there and the early read looks good.”
Jacqui Lividini, senior vice president of fashion merchandising at Saks Fifth Avenue, said sales of luxury items remained strong. Cashmere Burberry scarves ($155 and up) and Burberry check boxers ($45) for men were going fast, she said.
Rainy weather in the Northeast kept consumers at the malls yesterday. The parking lot at the Mall at Short Hills, in Short Hills, N.J., was about 85 percent full by noon – that’s about 10 percent more crowded than last year, executives said.
One woman spent $2,500 on five Louis Vuitton handbags – one for herself and four as gifts – at the company’s Short Hills store yesterday.
Packing it in
Shoppers were out in force yesterday.
Some highlights:
* More than 700 people lined up at Filene’s in Farmington, Conn., before the store opened at 6 a.m. to get a free $15 gift card.
* A $27.99 Apex DVD player sold so fast at some Sears, Roebuck stores that customers were given rain checks.
* The parking lot at the Mall at Short Hills was about 85 percent full by noon.
Source: Taubman Centers and company representatives.