Shop Talk

Starbucks, coffee shops see collateral benefit from Black Friday

Black Friday bargain hunting is a marathon, requiring a shopper to be alert and aggressive to outmaneuver rivals for that last $200 LCD TV at Target. But with so many retailers opening their doors at midnight, why bother going to sleep? Even if you shopped at Kohl’s, which opened at 3 am or J.C. Penney, at 4 am, you were in for very short night for most.

So bleary-eyed shoppers turned out in drove at U.S. malls on Friday, with lines at coffee shops among the longest.

Mall operator Macerich said on Friday that the Starbucks at its Tysons Corner Center in suburban Washington had lines 30 people deep at 11 a.m. At the Newport Center mall in Jersey City, exhausted shoppers could be seen forming a line of 20 to get much needed java.

After all, no one wants to be caught unawares when cashmere sweaters for 50 percent off are at stake.

(Reuters photo)

Check Out Line: Have a flu shot, spend some more

Check out the impact of signs the U.S. flu season may be weaker this year.

Drug stores such as Walgreen, CVS and Rite Aid are offering flu shots earlier and more conveniently to keep sales from slumping with no expected H1N1 outbreak this year along the lines of last year.

Last year, consumers came for flu shots and bought other items as well, but those related sales could suffer this year. Walgreen, for example, said lower demand for flu-related prescriptions cut 0.3 percentage point from its same-store sales growth in August.

This year, drug stores began promoting flu shots in late August, a week earlier than last year.

Making it tougher for drug stores are rivals like grocery stores (Supervalu and Kroger), and big-box retailers (Target) have been offering flu shots as well.

Also in the basket:

Ecuador wants you to smell the roses, and eat them

Pampers to create designer diapers

Following a trend made popular by teen shops H&M and Forever21, a Procter & Gamble brand is making the leap to disposable fashion.

Literally.

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley will create a line of Pampers diapers for Target that will include madras, stripes and ruffles, P&G said Wednesday. The collection “delivers the perfect blend of utility and aesthetics,” according to the company.

“It’s the first piece of clothing your baby will ever wear, and it should be special,” said Rowley, who designs clothing and accessories for several department stores and has appeared on “Project Runway.”

The new Pampers by Cynthia Rowley, available in 11 different styles, go on sale in mid-July.

Some parents like to frame their children’s smock dresses or save their first pair of shoes. Wonder what they’ll do with baby’s first … well, maybe we’d rather not know.

Happy Super Valenbowl!

Target spent time talking to Wall Street analysts on Thursday, outlining the multiple ways it will expand its business in the next 10 years.

It will open smaller stores in urban markets. It will add its PFresh food concept into hundreds of stores, boosting customer traffic. It will explore overseas expansion in Canada, Mexico or Latin America.

And it will celebrate the Super Valenbowl!

Michael Francis, Target’s chief marketing officer, said the retailer is ready to reclaim seasonal events in a “bolder and more dominant way.”

It did that during the busy Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend. It held a two-day sales event — online on Thanksgiving day and in stores on Friday — that it said resulted in a double-digit rise in Black Friday traffic compared with last year.

Next up is Valentine’s Day. But Francis said cupid’s day is now having to compete with the Super Bowl, which will be played on Feb. 7 this year.

So what to do? How about combine the two!

Target wants shoppers to squeeze the (supersized) Charmin

Grab that shopping cart – you’re going to need it.

To lure post holiday shoppers this year, Target has scrapped its typical plan of stocking its stores with exotic home goods sourced from across this globe.

Instead, it has cleared out the Christmas trees and holiday lights to make room for a mini warehouse club.

Target is stocking 12-packs of giant up & up paper towels for $13.49, and 24-packs of triple roll Charmin toilet paper for $17.99.

Mixed in with the bulk-sized packages, Target is putting in “treasure hunt” items  — a tactic used at No. 1 U.S. warehouse club giant Costco. It will be selling Ed Hardy handbags and shirts for between $34.99 and $64.99, and Ralph Lauren polo shirts for boys and girls for less than $25.

But Costco doesn’t have to worry about Target becoming a direct competitor – at least not yet.  Kathee Tesija, Target’s executive vice president of merchandising, told Reuters the retailer will only offer what it is calling “The Great Save” until February 21. But if you’re lucky and that supersized package of Charmin is a hit with shoppers it might just wind up in Target’s normal product assortment.

(Image provided by Target)

Safeway, Walmart top list of most wanted gift cards

While giving gift cards may have declined in popularity, some are proving quite attention-worthy and can be cashed in for a pretty penny.  Online gift card site plasticjungle.com buys gift cards for cash, and then resells them, often for a bit less than the amount left on the card.  It also lets people donate cards to charities.

So, what stores are hot this holiday season?

Here are the cards the site is paying the most for — up to 90 percent of the face value:

– Safeway

– Walmart

– Target

– Sam’s Club

Target pops up, but this time with a focus on price

Target is a big fan of the pop up store, setting up miniature versions of itself for a few days so shoppers can buy its wares, often in cities where it does not have a large presence.

A year ago, right before the financial storm hit Wall Street in September, it set up “Bullseye Bodegas” in Manhattan, where it showcased exclusive merchandise by 22 designers.

This year for the holidays, Target will open 3 Target To-Go stores Dec 11-13 in New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.  They will offer 50 “wallet-friendly gifts” like toys, home decor, beauty and fashion. Target’s fashions from Rodarte will also be sold in the pop up stores a week before the collection hits its stores nationwide on Dec. 20.

“This holiday, we wanted to give our urban markets a little slice of Target,” said Shawn Gensch, vice president of marketing. ”Target To-Go gives time-starved city dwellers a joyful, convenient and affordable holiday shopping experience.”

With budget-conscious shoppers appearing to be the only ones who exist this holiday season (resulting in retailers seeing a weak start to the holiday shopping rush), touting “wallet-friendly” gifts over unique merchandise by 22 designers might be a better way to win sales this Christmas.

(Photo: Reuters)

Black Friday: No riff-raff, please

Bargain shoppers turned out en masse across the land on Friday morning to observe Black Friday rituals, while retail temples from Target to Macy’s to Saks slashed prices to get people to do one simple thing: buy more stuff.

But upscale stores — and some their shoppers — seemed to think the Black Friday extravaganza beneath them.

I got a sense of this while I was interviewing people outside Saks’s flagship store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue this morning. I asked a customer exiting with a Saks bag full of merchandise what she thought of the sales. She sniffed:“I’m not here for Black Friday. All the stuff I bought was full price!”

Peter Bertling, a lawyer visiting from Santa Barbara, California, had a different point of view about discounts. “I hadn’t planned on buying a suit,” Bertling said as he left Saks. “If not for the Black Friday sale, I’d probably be at the hotel with my wife right now.”

While Saks discounts many items by 40 percent between 8 a.m. and noon on Friday, other upscale rivals seemed to the think holiday discounts were déclassé. At 9 a.m. on Friday, while Saks and Tiffany were open, other upscale stores that line Fifth Avenue, such as Cartier, Versace, Prada, Piaget and even Bergdorf Goodman, were closed.

(Photo: Reuters)

Check Out Line: More holiday reality checks from retailers

Check out more retailers reminding Wall Street that all is not well on Main Street.

On Friday morning,  AnnTaylor Stores reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and gave a cautious forecast for the current holiday quarter.

The operator of the Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor LOFT chains said its fourth-quarter sales would be slightly below those of the third quarter, and that its gross margins would be lower as well, due to heightened promotions it expects to use to drive sales throughout the holiday shopping period.

Meanwhile, Foot Locker late on Thursday reported third-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations. The athletic shoe retailer cited lower than expected U.S. sales.

On a conference call on Friday morning, Foot Locker said it expected same-store sales for the holiday fourth quarter to be negative.

Foot Locker and AnnTaylor join a chorus of retailers ranging from Macy’s to Kohl’s to Wal-Mart that have warned investors in recent weeks that the holiday shopping season may be a little less merry than the stock market is expecting as consumers continue to show a reluctance to spend.

Or as Doug Scovanner, the CFO of Target, said quite pointedly earlier this week: “In our view, sell-side analysts are somewhat more optimistic across most of our industry than we believe is warranted in light of the harsh realities of the current environment.”

This holiday’s shiny new toy: social media

Companies that cater to consumers are always chasing after the latest consumer technology trend (anyone remember Second Life?), and this holiday season that means following them into the world of social media.

Companies ranging from Wal-Mart and Panda Express to J.C. Penney and Target are experimenting with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Flickr. Some are tweeting special coupons or limited-time deals, while others are doling out fashion advice or providing play-by-plays from product launch parties on Facebook. M.A.C. said it is using its Facebook page to feature artists, color collections, and what is happening backstage at fashion shows. 

While figuring out if all this tweeting, posting and friending is increasing sales is difficult, companies said one thing is certain: Social media is giving them a direct, unfiltered link to consumers.

For instance, when Target asked its Facebook fans what they thought of its mens clothing line, they got suggestions like: “MORE MLB, NFL, NBA merchandise…” and “Could use a better selection of mens jeans, and tall mens shirts (not just dress shirts) too.”

Target is now using the responses to tweak its merchandise selection.

When Panda Express wanted to celebrate its new SweetFire chicken breast, it allowed Facebook fans to print a coupon so they coud visit a restaurant on Sept. 25 and try it for free. Chief Marketing Officer Glenn Lunde said 25,000 coupons were redeemed and traffic in its restaurants rose that day. 

Larry Weintraub, the chief executive of marketing agency Fanscape, said that unlike traditional media, social media can give companies tangible results.