Shoppers scramble for ‘Black Friday’ deals

“We all know that September and October were not great months, so there is some pent-up demand,” Lundgren said. “We feel encouraged by the early signs.”

Jerry Storch, chairman and CEO of Toys “R” Us Inc., which unveiled 101 early morning bargains, four times the number last year, reported 1,000 people waiting in line for the 5 a.m. opening at the Manhattan store, double the number a year ago.

Macy’s, Toys “R” Us and others with locations in big cities also enjoyed increased business from foreign shoppers reveling in exchange rates that made discounts even deeper.

Melissa O’Brien, spokeswoman at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which offered such specials as a Polaroid 42-inch LCD HDTV for $798 and a $79.87 Sony digital camera, only said “we are excited about today.” Among the most popular items were flat-panel TVs, and various toys, particularly from the “Transformers” line. Special offers on GPS units and digital frames were selling “very fast,” she said.

Target Corp.’s spokeswoman Lena Michaud said traffic was strong based on a spot-check of stores. Gail Lavielle, spokeswoman at Sears Holdings Inc., which operates Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart stores, reported traffic increases from a year ago.

Best Buy Co. drew more than a thousand shoppers to West Paterson, N.J. and to its Manhattan store for early morning bargains on Sony laptop computers, cut to $399.99 from $749.99, and GPS devices from TomTom for $119.99, from the normal $249.99, according to store managers.

Recognizing a potentially tough shopping season ahead, stores began discounting weeks ago, with such gimmicks as door busters and expanded hours. While top luxury stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue continue to do well, merchants that cater to middle and lower income shoppers have suffered as consumers struggle with higher gas and food prices as well as a slumping housing market.

While Black Friday is expected to be the busiest day of the season, it’s not a predictor of how retailers will fare in the season overall. In fact, the weekend only accounts for about 10 percent of overall holiday sales. But it does set the tone since what consumers see that day influences where they will shop for the rest of the year.

Now, stores are going to have to play a cat-and-mouse game, waiting to see how much more they need to discount to get shoppers back.

Barbara Jensen, of Omaha, who was shopping at a local J.C. Penney stores said she planned to save money by making fewer trips to stores and hoping that sale prices extend beyond Friday.

“I go in sections, that way I’m not using as much gas,” Jensen said. “I’m hoping that maybe there will be some good prices this year because of the retailers being afraid that people aren’t going to buy. I’m hoping that that will help.”

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