A glut of Black Friday pricing promotions, more available shopping days and colder weather has assisted U.S. retailers in bringing back some shine to November same-store retail results. This is no surprise, but it helps the market take a deep breath after weak consumer confidence, a credit crunch that's still in progress and the lack of a "must have" holiday gift item were all worrying retailer watchers a few weeks ago right before Thanksgiving.U.S. retailers have had a tough year this year (some worse than others) on the backs of spending pullbacks from many customer groups and tightening wallets. So far, estimates are concluding that November same-store sales results will rise 2.5% for November, ahead of the YTD rate of 2.2% through October of this year -- the slowest in over four years.
The forecast for Black Friday holiday spending looked like the worst in five years before larger consumer electronics and general merchandise retailers set the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales days on fire with deep discounts on hot items like flat-panel televisions and an old holiday staple, the personal computer.
This year's November same-store sales figures included nine post-Thanksgiving shopping days compared to 2006's two days, boosting sales even further. On a comparable basis, it's hard to determine if 2007's post-Thanksgiving holiday spending was actually lower than 2006's based on the inequity in available shopping days in November. That hasn't kept retail watchers from cheering for a larger-than-expected comp. figure for November retail, though.
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