Blistering Holiday Sales Fortell a Merry Christmas for Retailers

[The Finman]

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<h2><font color=#003399>Frantic Shopping Day Kicks Off Holiday Buying Season</font></h2>
NEW YORK --- It was "survival of the fittest" Friday as millions of consumers everywhere kicked off the holiday buying season.

And some die-hard shoppers were willing to do just about anything to take advantage of the bargains retailers offered to inaugurate the season, including waking up before sunrise in frigid temperatures to grab early-bird specials.

The day after Thanksgiving -- known as Black Friday because it once marked the day when retailers got out of the red -- is the traditional start to the holiday shopping season, which generates as much as 40 percent of annual revenues for key gift destinations such as toy stores and apparel chains.

"This is going to be a real big and important day not only for the shoppers but for the retailers -- this is their bread and butter, that's why they call it Black Friday," Jonathan Hoenig, portfolio manager with Capitalist Pig Asset Management, told Fox News.

Noting that consumers' take-home pay is up, as is consumer confidence and the stock market, "people generally are doing a lot better this year than they were in previous years," Hoenig said.

Jones said the store sold out of 700, 20-inch TVs in about 20 minutes -- and close to 2,000 DVDs were gone in a half hour.

George Buckley, 50, of Arlington, Mass., said the shopping frenzy is a tradition in his family.

"Eat turkey, sleep, get up early and spend money and help the economy," Buckley said outside the Burlington Mall.

With an improving economy, merchants are more hopeful this year that consumers will keep buying throughout the season, not only when the merchandise is 50 percent off.

The Washington-based National Retail Federation (search) projects total holiday sales to be up 5.7 percent to $217.4 billion from last year.

"We've cut back on our Christmas shopping simply because of the economy.


Full Article <font color="red"><u>Here</u></font>