By Angela Chen
Retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Target Corp. (TGT)
reported strong Thanksgiving Day traffic as shoppers focused on
big-ticket electronic items.
Neither retailer reported specific sales figures early Friday
morning, but both bragged about the number of customers that
shopped at stores and online.
Wal-Mart and Target were among a host of retailers that began
offering special "Black Friday" sales on Thanksgiving Day, starting
at 6 p.m., in an effort to boost struggling sales in a tight
economy and keep up with online retailers.
Online sales were key this year, as Target said Thursday was its
biggest online sales day ever, while Wal-Mart said it was the
second-highest online sales day ever, behind only last year's Cyber
Monday, the nickname for the Monday after Thanksgiving when
retailers tend to offer special deals online.
Wal-Mart also said it had more than 22 million customers at its
stores between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday, compared with 10
million last year.
The retailer said tablets, televisions, sheets, children's
apparel and videogame products were among the top sellers. Other
top sellers were dolls of Elsa from the Disney movie "Frozen," food
containers and towels. Online, Wal-Mart said, popular items
included wireless prepaid phones and baby items.
Shala Beharry, 37 years old, of Valley Stream, N.Y., walked out
of the Wal-Mart here with three shopping carts brimming with
towels, toys and furniture around 7 p.m. She and her husband got to
the store around 3 p.m. and said they didn't have to wait to get in
a store but once inside they waited an entire hour to check out and
pay for their goods. They said they checked online for items like
the Frozen Elsa doll and other Christmas presents for their three
kids, but many items including the Elsa doll were sold out, so they
decided to come to the store.
"The Frozen stuff was all sold out," she said, noting that they
will probably buy more things online later in the weekend and next
week.
Meanwhile, at Target, mobile sales were a key driver, the
company said. Online, the number of orders and sales increased more
than 40% from the year before. Top-selling online items included
iPads, Nikon L330 camera, Beats by Dre Solo HD headphones, the
Dyson DC50 Allergy vacuum and the Sony PlayStation 4 Bundle.
In the stores, Target's top-selling items included the Element
40-inch television and Xbox One. In the first hour of stores being
open, Target said it sold 1,800 televisions per minute and 2,000
videogames per minute. Other popular items were the Keurig K40
Brewer and the KitchenAid Classic Plus Stand Mixer.
About 500 people lined up at the Target in the East River Plaza
in New York City, led by Nicole Cruz. The night was a family
affair. The 20-year-old alternated holding the spot with her
brother since 1 a.m. She planned to buy a slow cooker and a set of
pots and pans for the apartment she shares with her mother, who
works at the Target.
She prefers to come to the store rather than buying online
because she doesn't like the wait. "I'm just a couple blocks away,"
she said.
A few spots down, Martin Heron, 31 years old, said he arrived at
11 a.m. so he can buy a couple televisions, including a 55-inch
Westinghouse for $395. He plans to limit his holiday spending to
less than the $2,000 he spent last year, mainly because he doesn't
have enough room in his apartment. He prefers Black Friday to
online shopping because of the comraderie developed with fellow
line holders.
"We feel like we're family," he said.
This year, Target also had tried offering certain presale Black
Friday deals in stores and online Wednesday. By 9 a.m. Wednesday,
online sales had exceeded total sales from the same day last year,
the company said.
Department stores J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) and Macy's Inc. (M),
which started Thanksgiving Day deals for the first time last year,
opened at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. Kmart opened at 6 a.m.
on Thanksgiving, while Sears opened at 6 p.m. the same day.
About 140 million people are expected to shop over this holiday
weekend, a number flat from last year, according to the National
Retail Federation. Shoppers spent about $57.4 billion during the
Black Friday weekend last year, the first decline on Black Friday
weekend since 2009, according to the federation.
American shoppers have a lot of reasons to feel more confident
this holiday season. Six months of strong economic growth have
produced an upsurge in employment; wages are growing, if only
barely; and a sharp drop in gasoline prices has put another $20 to
$30 a month into most American's wallets.
At the same time, consumers remain cautious. A rough fall led
Macy's and Wal-Mart to cut their financial forecasts, as a
persistent decline in shopper traffic has left the industry jittery
about a holiday season that is expected to rely heavily on
profit-sapping discounts to drive sales.
The coming four weeks will be a test of how aggressively
Americans are willing to spend and how much momentum the U.S.
economy has going into the end of the year. That in turn is a
crucial variable for a world economy that is relying more heavily
on the U.S. as Europe sputters and once-fast growth in emerging
markets like China slows.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires