Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Check Out Line: A Black Friday extravaganza!
Today’s a serious shopping day for serious shoppers.
Black Friday is no longer a sport for the leisurely shopper. From our late-night rounds, it became clear that people were lining up all over in the dead of night (and some earlier than that!) not just for the fun of it but out of necessity.
While many of the stoutest shoppers were grimly determined to get their deals and get out, there was some fun and holiday cheer.
At a Best Buy in Springfield, Pennsylvania at midnight, the 50 people in line created an atmosphere part football tailgate and part Department of Motor Vehicle tension. A card table was set up near the end of the line, but the reception on that end was quite frosty, possibly “enhanced” by the consumption of cheap beer.
But for the most part, the deals were the thing.
Take Nate Bryan of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, who arrived at 2:30 am EST this year to get a laptop for his daughter.
“It’s normally $1,000 and now cut in half. That $500 can go to other things,” he said.
Wowing students with indigo laptops, blue flash drives
The National Retail Federation has issued its 2009 back-to-school spending survey and the results show that the ringing of school bells won’t necessarily translate into the happy ringing of cash registers.
But the one part of stores where parents and students expect to boost their spending despite the ongoing recession is electronics.
The average family plans to spend $167.84 on consumer electronic purchases for back to school this year, up from $151.61 last year, according to the NRF survey.
Among college kids, spending on electronics or computer-related items is expected to increase to $266.08 from $211.89 last year.
Those trends are not lost on Wal-Mart.
On its own blog, Wal-Mart is talking about its plan to win sales from back-to-school shoppers:
“This year Wal-Mart Stores and Walmart.com have teamed up with Dell to offer you a Great deal on Laptops.
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Resident Shop Talk Expert
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