JANESVILLE — Tonya Monte is a serious Black Friday shopper.
The Evansville woman already had hit five stores by 7 a.m. today. She sent her husband, Ken Nelson, to wait in line with a cart at each store while she traveled back and forth filling the cart with toys and goodies for their 9- and 11-year-old daughters.
Though the couple might spend less on each other this Christmas, they have no intention of spending less on their daughters, they said.
“The girls deserve just as much this year as they do every other year,” Monte said while in line at Target.
Black Friday—so called because it’s the day many stores come out of the red and into the black—marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Many retailers make 30 percent or more of their revenue and profit from holiday sales, said Jerry O’Brien, executive director of the Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence at UW-Madison.
But the tanking economy has retailers worried this could be a blue Christmas. A national Gallup poll found Americans plan to spend an average of $616 on gifts this year, down nearly 30 percent from last year’s average of $866.
Sarah Benish, Janesville, said she’ll be more conscientious this year buying gifts for her teenage children. She said they’re getting one large gift and several smaller ones, whereas in the past they might have gotten several large gifts.
“Before, we didn’t even think about it,” she said.
Still, many shoppers interviewed by The Janesville Gazette this morning said they don’t plan to cut spending on gifts.
“Usually we don’t spend that much the rest of the year, so we can splurge at Christmas,” said Lisa Shada, Fort Worth, Texas. Shada was in town this weekend visiting family and got up at 4 a.m. today to shop, she said.
O’Brien said he doesn’t expect sales to be down from last holiday season, but he doesn’t expect sales to go up much either.
Retail sales were dismal in October, which could mean shoppers are delaying purchases until the holidays, he said.
“Some people were probably holding back on basic purchases, thinking there would be some great deals between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I think they might be right,” he said.
O’Brien expects stores to be especially aggressive with deals this year, offering creative bonuses such as layaway and free shipping for online purchases. He recommended shopping early because stores might have ordered less inventory in anticipation of lagging sales.
Still, O’Brien said it could be an especially tough shopping season in Janesville, considering the General Motors plant is closing two days before Christmas.
“I think Janesville’s going to batten down,” O’Brien said. “A lot of it has to do with consumer confidence. Janesville has a special problem.”
O’Brien said electronic sales could be hit especially hard in Janesville. People who might have upgraded to a big-screen TV or the latest digital camera last year might make do with what they have this year, he said.
But Shane Davis, general manager of the Janesville Best Buy, said he’s hopeful the store will have a strong holiday season. The store still is seeing customers buying popular holiday products such as the Nintendo Wii, he said.
“Anytime we have the economic climate like it is, there is some uncertainty, but we’re still expecting to have a great holiday season,” he said.
A warning on buying gift cards
A viral e-mail making its way to inboxes warns shoppers not to buy gift cards from several chains, claiming the companies are closing stores and/or going out of business.
But you’re probably safe buying gift cards from most companies, said Jerry O’Brien, executive director of the Kohl's Department Stores Center for Retailing Excellence at UW-Madison.
Steve & Barry’s and Circuit City are the major chain stores in the Midwest that have recently declared bankruptcy, he said. Both are accepting gift cards for now, but they’re not obligated to under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, so you’re taking a risk if you buy cards from them.
Bottom line: Don’t buy a gift card from a company you don’t think will be around for long, O’Brien said.
More important, he advises shoppers to buy gift cards only if don’t charge fees and don’t expire.
“And if they aren’t advertising that they don’t have fees and don’t expire, you can probably bet that they do,” he said.
—Stacy Vogel