Strategy: Research and planning atop many shopping lists

By David McGee
Staff Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: November 25, 2008

BY DAVID McGEE
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
BRISTOL, Va. – Black Friday has been circled on Fred Arrington’s calendar for a year.
The Cleveland, Va., resident plans to line up outside the Sears store at the Bristol Mall before dawn, hoping for the best deal on a big-screen television – like the one that got away in 2007.
“I was the fifth or sixth one in line last year who didn’t get a [specific] TV,” Arrington said during a recent scouting mission to the store’s electronics department. “So I’ve waited another year.”
On Black Friday 2007, the retailer ran out of a sale-priced 40-inch TV within 45 minutes of opening its doors, department Manager Jessica Cox said.
Arrington plans to check prices and models at other retailers before making his final decision, then leave home about 3 a.m. to take his place in line – probably at Sears.
“I know with sales, the prices go down the day after Thanksgiving, so that should be a good time to buy,” he said while gazing at a row of high-definition models. “It’s been about 20 years since I’ve upgraded [TVs], but there are so many choices so I’ve had to research and try to decide.”
For many, scanning ads and mapping out a Black Friday game plan has taken its place among such Thanksgiving Day traditions as carving turkey and watching football. And despite national forecasts of a bleak Christmas selling season, retailers still hope the day after Thanksgiving remains their Super Bowl.
About 48 percent of consumers plan to spend “about the same” as last year when it comes to Christmas shopping, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers.
About 37 percent of survey respondents said they plan to spend less than they did in 2007, while only 15 percent of consumers plan to spend more.
Local retailers say they remain cautiously optimistic.
“The mall’s overall sales for October showed an increase, which is a huge accomplishment,” mall Marketing Manager Heather Hill said. “Our retailers – both the anchors and our smaller retailers – are offering more incentives and their sales started earlier.”
Because Black Friday’s early specials often represent the lowest prices of the year on certain items, it could mean even longer lines of value-conscious consumers, Hill said.
Major mall retailers like Sears, J.C. Penney and Belk will open about 5 or 6 a.m., while all mall stores will open by 8 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, Hill said.
Across the state line, employees of Kmart on West State Street are preparing to spend the holiday with their customers.
“We’ve been open on Thanksgiving for many, many years,” Assistant Manager Doug Blair said. “It’s fantastic. We have a one-day ad with some really good bargains and it’s wonderful.”
The store, which will be open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., is typically very busy on the traditional holiday, Blair said.
Like most retailers, Kmart stores also will open early on Black Friday.
“We open at 6 a.m. and, last year, we estimated we had about 400 people in line,” Blair said, adding that pre-holiday sales have been strong. “We’re doing very well. The company has been pushing layaway and it is astronomical. It’s amazing the dollar value of items put into layaway. Toys have been a huge layaway item.”
Shauna Olivier, who works as a senior team leader at the Target store at The Highlands Center in Washington County, Va., said she always looks forward to shopping on the busiest day of the year.
“I’m closing [the store] that day, so I plan to be here shopping [early]. It’s fun and exciting, and I love our stuff,” Olivier said, adding that she’ll probably get in line by 4 a.m. and wait for the doors to open at 6.
In addition to preparing a Thanksgiving Day meal for her family, Olivier plans to “strategize” her outing by scanning the newspaper ads to find the best deals. Working for the retailer, she said, doesn’t give her any advantage in knowing what the “doorbuster” or “early bird” specials will be.
“I find out when everybody else does – when the ad comes out in the paper,” she said. “We know some of it, but they keep it a secret until a couple days before.”
Keeping those special deals under wraps until the last minute – and Web sites purporting to leak the holiday pricing early – have become a part of the tradition.
“I looked at one of the sites, which said it had this year’s ads, but it was from last year,” Olivier said.
The contents of Game Stop’s holiday ad is always a “big secret” Bristol Mall store Manager Charolette Clarke said.
Olivier, who missed early shopping last year because she had to help open the store, said she enjoys the excitement and anticipation of waiting for the doors to open.
“It’s a lot of fun, standing out there in the cold with your hot coffee,” she said.
But not everyone shares her enthusiasm for the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
Former Postal Service employee Glen McClain of Bristol, Tenn., expects the nation’s economic woes to stunt this year’s retail sales.
McClain said his wife will make a trek to Roanoke to shop, but not on Black Friday and not at 6 a.m.
“I retired after 36½ years with the post office and still work 40-50 hours a week for a guy. And that’s the only way I could afford any Christmas,” McClain said during a recent trip to the Bristol Mall. “And we’re cutting our spending down. I don’t know how the younger generation is going to afford Christmas.”
McClain said he and his wife plan to buy presents for all their family members, but in smaller quantities and emphasizing clothing over toys for their grandchildren.
His daughter, Tracy Brown, of Blountville, said she and her husband also have reduced spending.
“I’ve already done some online shopping and now I’m looking for the stuff I can’t find online,” Brown said, while pushing a stroller with son, Tucker, and daughter, Carley. “We’re cutting back, probably by half. We cut back last year and we probably will again. We’re trying to teach our kids what Christmas is all about – that they don’t have to get so much stuff and be happy with what you’ve got.”
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