Published Saturday, November 30, 2002
put shoppers in mood
are out in force
Herald Business Editor
Combine chilly weather with a pinch of snow on the ground and what do you get?
Just the right ingredients for getting consumers in the Christmas shopping mood. Oh, and throw in a bonanza of sales to stimulate them to open their pocketbooks and you have a sure-fire attention grabber.
All three factors were in place Friday as consumers jammed stores in what is traditionally considered to be the first day of holiday shopping. Known as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving is the retailing industry's biggest day.
Items such as a combined DVD-VCR for under $80, jewelry up to 70 percent off and half-off tool sets proved to be hits.
When it comes to shopping patterns, local store managers said they never underestimate the power that weather has over shoppers.
Balmy weather just doesn't cut it for Christmas shoppers.
"You don't think about Santa Claus and Christmas when the temperatures are in the 60s,'' said Lesley Ruhnau, manager of Hermitage Kaufmann's in the Shenango Valley Mall.
And the best is yet to come.
"The weather is supposed to get colder this weekend,'' she said with a gleam in her eyes.
Ms. Ruhnau expects men's and ladies' accessory sales to do well at the store, which is running a sale throughout the weekend. The store gave away $15 certificates to the first 300 shoppers. The certificates could be used anywhere in the store. Like other merchants, Kaufmann's opened hours earlier than normal. But even with its 7 a.m. start, the store was the late kid on the block.
JC Penney's store at the mall opened at 6 a.m., its earliest start ever, said Gary Hodgkins, store manager. To sweeten the pot, the store gave away Disney snow globes to the first 300 consumers.
The store is on track for a very good year.
"It hasn't slowed down a bit,'' Hodgkins said.
Shoppers swept through stores in search of deals. Penney's was offering an extra 10 percent off from 6 a.m. to noon.
"It makes a difference,'' said shopper Terry Sherbondy, who was roving through Penney's. "If you spend $1,000 for Christmas, that 10 percent off means you can buy one more nice gift for somebody.''
Retailers also tried using the soft touch to reach consumers, such as the Shenango Valley Mall having a jazz band that entertained shoppers in the main concourse.
Kmart was open on Thanksgiving but more than 100 shoppers were seen lined up outside its Hermitage store waiting for its 5 a.m. opening on Friday. A similar crowd was lined up in front of KB Toys awaiting the store's opening at 5 a.m.
Wal-Mart's superstore in Hempfield Township was also open Thanksgiving and never closed. Just after midnight, the store offered drawings every hour for free items such as a Play Station 2, X-Box and Holiday Barbie.
"We had 150 people here at midnight,'' said Keith Fagley, assistant store manager.
Sears advertised a 6 a.m. opening but actually let shoppers in at 5:30 a.m., said John Keaty, store manager. Deals at Sears' Shenango Valley Mall store included half-off on a gas grill and a music system.
But national retailers like Sears are finding that online sales are attracting shoppers whereby they can stay at home, order an item and save on shipping fees by picking it up at the local store. That's a win-win for the consumer and the store, said George Ross, a former manager at Sears' Hermitage store who is now the retailer's Cleveland operations manager.
"The majority of our online products are already in the store,'' Ross said.
This year, there's more pressure on retailers than just the soft economy. Because of a late Thanksgiving this year, there are six fewer shopping days between that holiday and Christmas than last year.
Ross looks for the positive in that.
"Customers know how much they're going to spend,'' he said of holiday shopping. "It just means more for us per day.''