It’s gearing up as Black Friday, Round 2, even though today is Saturday and many shoppers aren’t yet recovered from holiday retail hangovers.
Merchants launched day-after-Christmas promotions early this year in a sign that sales so far may not have met expectations.
J.C. Penney opens stores today at 5 a.m., its earliest Dec. 26 opening ever. Wal-Mart is offering a week-long campaign of discounts that rival, or even exceed, pre-holiday pricing on some products.
Stores everywhere will be looking to attract shoppers with newly unwrapped gift cards.
The day after Christmas is the biggest gift-card day of the year for the Tattered Cover, Denver’s iconic bookseller.
Analysts say retailers like gift cards — and even returned merchandise — because customers often will buy additional products that exceed the value of the card or the return.
After-Christmas purchases account for 10 percent of total holiday sales, according to the National Retail Federation.
Penney’s has all-new merchandise in its teen department to cater to young shoppers eager to spend holiday cash and use gift cards as soon as they’re opened.
Retailers coined the phrase Black Friday to describe the annual shopping surge on the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally would put their books in the black.
This year, however, some may still be waiting.
“It’s going to be another bad year for retailers,” said Toon van Beeck, senior industry analyst with research firm IBIS World, which is projecting a 2.6 decline in sales this year compared with 2008.
Unlike previous years, when post-Christmas promotions were advertised mostly on Christmas Day, many retailers got an early start in an effort to keep holiday sales momentum going as consumers remain cautious with spending.
“It’s clear that consumer concerns about unemployment levels and the economic climate are weighing on spending,” Walgreen Co. chief executive Gregory Wasson said in a recent conference call with retail-industry analysts. “Consumers are focused on value, and discretionary items are not high on their shopping lists.”
Despite the uncertain outlook for spending, retailers’ post-holiday discounting is not likely to be as aggressive this year as it was in 2008. Merchants kept product inventories low this year in an effort to eliminate the deep price cuts offered last year when disappointing sales led to overstocked shelves.
“Retailers got caught off guard last year, but this year inventory control is much, much tighter,” said Don Provost, founding principal of Alberta Development Partners, owner of the Streets at Southglenn and other metro Denver malls.
“The shopping public has gotten conditioned to the perspective that deep discounting will always take place,” he said. “But I don’t see our merchants as being super-aggressive this year with discounts.”
Some boutique stores have weathered the recession better than discount-prone big-box retailers.
“We haven’t needed discounts to drive our business,” said Jennifer Langemeier of Irresistibles, a women’s fashion store at Streets at Southglenn. “We’re seeing an increase in buyer traffic and in consumer confidence.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
