Black Friday Scuffles, Shifts and Backlash

Midnight openings for an extra long Black Friday saw brisk business today, but might not have significantly boosted the total number of shoppers, according to one analyst.

Instead the early hours might have simply shifted when the most avid
customers hit the stores.

Target, Best Buy, Macy's and Kohl's stores opened at midnight, their
earliest openings. Company executives said they opened earlier because
customers wanted to have the option of beginning their searches for short-lived bargains relatively soon after eating their Thanksgiving meals instead having to wake up early Friday and because of competition for other retail chains.

Hundreds lined up outside Target and Kohl's in Seal Beach Thursday shortly after Thanksgiving dinner.

Bundled up in blankets, Kelly, Jessica and Ryan Jenkins of Los Alamitos managed to have their Thanksgiving dinner at home and still find a place within 50 yards of the front of the line.

“I am just glad the store opens at midnight this year, so we don’t have to stay out all night,” said Kelly Jenkins.

``My guess is that it's just a shift,'' said Jackie Fernandez, a retail partner with Deloitte, a financial advisory firm, which released a report last month predicting a modest 2 percent-3 percent increase in sales for Black Friday.

``That's just enough to about cover inflation for this year. Consumers
are still really cautious, especially here in Southern California. They're cautions about jobs, gas prices, and consumer savings is up at a historic
high.''

However, there could be a positive shift in the type of Christmas shopping consumers do this year, Fernandez said.

``I think there is a bit of pent up spending that needs to happen on basic needs,'' Fernandez said. ``We might see clothing become the No. 1 gift,
which is unusual. Gift cards have been No. 1 for a couple of years.''

Doorbusters and Pepperspray

The Shopping competition turned violent Thanksgiving night at a Porter Ranch Walmart when a woman armed with pepper spray sprayed on other customers, causing minor injuries to 20 people.

The assailant then fled the scene and Los Angeles police were searching
today for the suspect.

Black Friday Backlash

Adbusters, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based foundation which conceived the Occupy Wall Street protest, is making Black Friday the start of its ``Occupy Xmas'' campaign, seeking ``to put the brakes on rapid consumerism for 24 hours.''

Adbusters is calling for ``flash mobs, consumer fasts and mall sit-ins'' in an attempt to ``launch an all-out offensive to unset the corporate kings on the holiday throne.''

Black Friday also is Adbusters 20th annual Buy Nothing Day.

However, the anti-Black Friday efforts are predicted to have little impact.

Black Friday is forecast to be the year's biggest shopping day for the eighth consecutive year, according to ShopperTrak, the largest traffic measuring company.

A survey found that more people plan to shop on Black Friday than either
of the past two years. According to the poll conducted for the International
Council of Shopping Centers, a shopping center trade association, and the
investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, 34 percent of consumers questioned said they planned to shop on Black Friday, compared to 31  percent in 2010 and 26 percent in 2009.

``In addition to buying gifts, consumers overwhelmingly indicated that they would be looking for bargains on Black Friday for themselves as well,'' said Michael P. Niemira, the council's chief economist and director of research.

The day after Thanksgiving has become known as Black Friday as it begins
the Christmas shopping season where retailers achieve a profit for the year
after operating at a break-even point or loss. It is also a reference to the
accounting practice of using black ink, or being ``in the black'' to denote
profits.

It is a day known for customers lining up outside stores and shopping centers in the cold -- even camping for several days -- awaiting earlier-than- usual opening times to take advantage of sale prices, some in effect for just a few hours.

- City News Service