The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday – traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. And retailers throughout the country are gearing up for a busy day at the cash registers.
“We expect roughly 134 million people are going to be shopping this Friday,” said Missouri Retailers Association President David Overfelt in an interview with the Missourinet. “There’s going to be a number of bargains.”
What are people in Missouri and throughout the country shopping for this year?
“It’s going to be very traditional – toys, basic toys are still going to be very big, clothing, electronics are in the picture,” said Overfelt.
Despite the desire to head to the stores for bargains, we aren’t expected to spend as much as we did a year ago.
“We actually think that sales are going to be one percent lower than last year, and last year was 3.4 percent lower,” said Overfelt. “We think that sales are going to be down but not a complete disaster – We’re still talking about $437.6 billion in holiday sales, and that’s November and December.”
Consumer confidence is still low, but great deals could make this Black Friday the busiest shopping day of the season.
“We do think that this Black Friday could be one of the best days of the season because of the deals,” said Overfelt. “It could beat out the Saturday before Christmas. It is one prediction I’ve seen out there. But typically the biggest sale day of the year is the Saturday before Christmas.”
Many of the items on sale this Black Friday are in limited supply, so the early shopper has the best chance to take advantage of the lower prices.
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)
