Video: Black Friday 2009 results and stories from across the nation

November 28, 8:17 AMSalt Lake City Headlines ExaminerMarci Stone

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Salt Lake City Headlines Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Black Friday results and stories from across the nation.  Holiday sales are expected to decline about 1% in 2009 after a sales drop of 3.4% last year.  Retail holiday sales achieved an increase every year from 1999 until 2008 when they dropped 3.4%. Last year was one of the worst the retail industry has ever seen, and because of it many retailers were pulling out all the stops this year, so that sales numbers showed an increase over last year.

Official Black Friday 2009 sales numbers will be released Sunday by the National Retail Federation (NRF), but many individual stores are already reporting better than expected Black Friday sales. The biggest shopping day of the year use to be Black Friday, but now it is the Saturday before Christmas as many shoppers wait until the last minute in an attempt to get the best deals.

"Retailers came out swinging for Black Friday, offering some of the holiday season's lowest prices on electronics, appliances, apparel and toys," said Tracy Mullin, president of the NRF, an industry trade group, in a statement. "Budget-focused shoppers seemed to be pleasantly surprised with post-Thanksgiving deals, which many retailers will extend into Saturday and even Sunday."

In 2008, Walmart had one death in a store during a shopper stampede and changed the way people entered the store this year, by opening Thanksgiving Day instead of 5 am. This year the only disturbance was in the Upland, California Walmart when they had to close the store after shopped “got a little too rowdy.”  No deaths have been reported this year due to Black Friday shopping. 

At Sears, the hottest selling items were a Craftsman drill set for $39.99 and Snuggies for $9.99, and some luggage items and comforters that sold out in record time at all stores.

Jim Fielding, President of Disney Stores worldwide said that opening those few extra hours this year worked for Disney stores. "We're able to better manage the demand and spread [customer] traffic throughout the day," he said. "This may not become the norm for Black Friday for all retailers, but I think we will continue to be committed to it for the foreseeable future."

The hottest selling toy this year was the electronic Zhu Zhu Hamsters, and all stores from Toys R Us to Amazon.com sold out. Other hot toys included the Princess Tiana dolls, and video games.

2009 holiday sales expected to decline 1% overall
Year    % change    Total in Billions
1999   +8.3%           $343.60B
2000   +2.5%           $352.20B
2001   +3.6%           $367.70B
2002   +1.3%           $369.41B
2003   +5.2%           $388.60B
2004   +6.7%           $414.60B
2005   +6.1%           $435.60B
2006   +4.6%           $457.40B
2007   +2.4%           $460.20B
2008   -3.4%            $441.97B
2009   -1.00%          $437.60B (NFR estimate)
Source: National Retail Federation (NFR)

Sources: CNN Money and the Associated Press

Related articles:

Cyber Monday 2009 Sales for Kmart, Toys R Us, Walmart and Target
Amazon, Walmart, Target and Toys R Us 2009 Cyber Monday deals
The best 2009 Black Friday and Saturday online deals for electronics

Recent articles from this examiner:
Black Saturday sales continue for Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon
John Edward Jones body will be sealed inside Nutty Putty cave
Photo: Tiger Woods wife, Elin Nordegren pulled him out of the car after accident
Video: Tiger Woods was involved in car accident and released from hospital in good condition
Video: 5 people have been rescued from the Bob Push’s area of Nutty Putty Caves – one dead