Black Friday offers hope for struggling merchants

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The nation's retailers, who must be trying to figure out what they did to deserve the lumps of coal that have been landing in their stockings lately, could be setting the stage for one of the crazier Black Friday shindigs in years.Play their deals right on the day after Thanksgiving and they'll have consumers lining up in the dark and shopping in the middle of the night to stretch their remaining money as far as possible.Last year, the National Retail Federation estimates, more than 60 million people shopped on "Black Friday." The day after Thanksgiving, it's called "Black Friday" because it's the day that struggling retailers can turn a profit, or go in the black, for the year. Last year the average shopper spent almost $350 over the holiday weekend. With many chains reporting sales off significantly this fall, the annual deal fest could be the last big chance for some retailers to save the season."I think we will see the biggest traffic ever on Black Friday," said C. Britt Beemer, chief executive officer and founder of America's Research Group in Charleston, S.C., which is just one of several organizations predicting hordes of shoppers will be out and about that day.Just how much they'll actually buy depends on the deals. Price is more important than almost anything else this year, experts agree. Retailers have set the bar pretty high if, following tradition, their Black Friday deals are going to be bigger and better than those offered in weeks leading up to the holiday.Many stores already have been using discounts liberally to try to jumpstart consumer spending, yet data from the National Retail Federation indicates people haven't done any more holiday shopping early this year than they did last year."It seems that many consumers are waiting to see what retailers have up their sleeves," said Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C., retail trade group.Retailers have promoted the day -- and used the term -- so heavily in recent years that most shoppers know exactly what it means.The move to spread the spending associated with Black Friday across a longer period was evident last year. Wal-Mart used the term for specials offered a couple of weeks early. In mid-November, Sears sent an e-mail blast for a "family and friends" night promising "incredible Friday and Saturday after-Thanksgiving prices." Wal-Mart and Kmart have been promoting Black Friday-style deals for weeks and Toys 'R' Us claims to have had sales every day since October.Things are intensifying as the days pass. CVS/pharmacy announced "Black Friday shopping event starts early," as it promoted doorbuster deals. Dollar General has said it is on a similar program in advance of the holiday.There is some danger that overuse could dilute the term's value. Not all the discounts pitched so far have been the kind that could drive people to battle it out in the aisles for TVs, toys and game systems.Skepticism was also evident in an e-mail from BFAds.com, one of many Web sites trying to get early information on deals."We'll start with the ugly," the alert read, even as it told readers about a new posting of what appeared to be electronics chain Best Buy's Black Friday ad. The author went on to say half of the items listed as being on sale were actually just at their regular sale price. He floated several theories, including the possibility that this was a fake ad or that Best Buy planned to rely more on its "secret sales" to get shoppers excited. The retailer did not return a call for comment.(E-mail Teresa F. Lindeman can be reached at tlindeman(at)post-gazette.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com)