Mixed bag comes with Black Friday deals for recession-era shoppers
COLLEGE STATION – Predictions for Black Friday 2009 aren't golden, but various surveys indicate that a lot of greenbacks will go from consumer to retailer the day after Thanksgiving, up some from last year's levels."Many retailers see this if not as a defining moment, certainly extremely important for the economy," said Nancy Granovsky, Texas AgriLife Extension Service family economics specialist. "This has typically been the most active shopping day in the country."
The term Black Friday traces its origins to the late 1960s, according to the American Dialect Society, and originally referred to what law enforcement officers and taxi drivers labeled the day after Thanksgiving for the unrelenting crowds of people pouring into the stores and congesting traffic.
Some in recent years have considered the color reference to have more economic meaning as for the time when retailers accounting books go from being in the red (negative) to the black (positive) figures. But Granovsky advises consumers to remember their own balance sheets when making purchase decisions at after-Thanksgiving sales.
"Certainly people armed with a shopping list and how and what they are going to buy can save money," Granovsky said. "But people should step back in planning prior to going to the stores and not get caught up in all the hype."
Predictions about this year's massive post-Thanksgiving sales have been circulating since late-August. More recently, some of the potential deals offered by large retailers have been "leaked" in hopes of enticing consumers to shop at the sales which begin early in the morning Friday and offer various incentives.
"It goes back to shopping basics. Who is on your list? How much are you able to spend? How will you shop – in stores, online or on your gift shelf at home?" she said. "Or will you be looking for other ways to provide gifts to people that may not require spending money at all?"
Granovsky also suggested people ask themselves how expenditures might differ if they could use only cash as opposed to using credit.
"If you opt to use credit, will you pay more than you can comfortably afford?" she asked.
She noted that gift-giving can be an issue in a family, especially if there is less disposable income this year than in the past, adding that consumers can read some of the advice offered in magazines, newspapers and online to find ways to spend less.
"Maybe this (onslaught of articles about cost-savings this holiday) reflects a mind shift that less is more," she said. "Maybe people are redefining a ‘new normal' for their holiday celebrations.
Does the ‘new normal' mean living within your means, taking a new look at what the holidays mean to you and whether lots of money has to be spent? Or does the ‘new normal' for those who now have money available after having lived a year of deprivation mean they now can spend a little more?
"The main thing is to have a list and follow it," she said. "If an item on your list is sold out, maybe consider changing that selection to something of comparable price rather than spending a lot to find the original item." -30-
