Published: November 23, 2007 11:30 am         

Stores usher in holiday shopping season

The snow is falling, the roads are packed and people are getting up a lot earlier than usual. This can only mean one thing — the Christmas shopping season has officially begun.

With high-tech and hard-to-find items sincluding the Nintendo Wii topping many wish lists, shoppers are hitting the streets in force, resulting in lines like the one outside of Concord Mall this morning, about 500 strong.

Today is called “Black Friday” because of the accounting practice of recording losses in red ink and gains in black. This is typically the busiest shopping day in terms of numbers of consumers, but Christmas Eve traditionally has the highest sales volume of the holiday season.

Some shoppers choose to focus more on the positive aspects of getting up early to wait in lines.

“It’s fun,” said Julie Williams, Elkhart, who was shopping with friends and family this morning and admitted that she waited in line for nearly an hour. “We’ve been out since 5 a.m. and are still having a good time.”

Talandra Schrock, also of Elkhart, echoed Williams’s sentiments.

“You can come out with friends, eat some breakfast, find some bargains and just have a good time,” Schrock said.

Both agreed that for the most part, their shopping has been going well but finding the elusive Nintendo Wii “has been a problem.”

Sheri Torok, Elkhart, said her Black Friday shopping is “so far so good,” as of 8:30 this morning. Torok admitted that trying to find the right present for six granddaughters was her motivation to brave the lines and the snow to go shopping.

Whatever their reason, shoppers have just begun the yearly frenzy. With 32 days remaining until Christmas, it’s not likely to abate for some time.

Stores are counting on hordes of shoppers who have pulled back in recent months. Merchants need them to keep coming throughout the holiday season to make their sales goals.

J.C. Penney Co., which opened at 4 a.m., an hour earlier than last year, served up such deals as a leather massage recliner for $298.88, after a $50 mail in rebate. The original price was $799. Other deals include 50 percent off toys and board games.

Shoppers from overseas were reveling in exchange rates that made discounts even deeper.

The dollar hit record lows against the euro Friday and reached their lowest point in 12 years against the yen.

“Everything is half price for us,” Ashlee Clifford said, smiling, as she shopped at a Circuit City in Manhattan. Clifford lives in Northern Ireland.

She was unaware of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy — known in retail circles as Black Friday — until she arrived in New York.

“It’s absolutely madness,” said Clifford, 26.

Recognizing a potentially tough shopping season ahead, stores began discounting weeks ago, with such gimmicks like expanded hours. While top luxury stores like 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.

There are no new, must-have holiday items like Apple Inc.’s iPod, though certain products are doing well. At toy stores, Smart Cycle, from Mattel’s Fisher-Price, and Jakks Pacific’s EyeClops, a handheld device that magnifies objects, are among the early hits, though sales have been stymied by concerns over Chinese-made toys. At clothing stores, dresses have been a strong seller, according to Dana Telsey, CEO of Telsey Advisory Group, an independent research firm.

In electronics, there are no new game consoles, though shortages of Nintendo’s Wii, which made its debut a year ago, have kept shoppers alert to whatever has dribbled in.

Pam Batts, of Raleigh, N.C., arrived at a Target in suburban Knightdale at 3:30 a.m. Friday, ready to buy a Wii for her 8 year old son but left empty handed.

About 30 minutes before the doors opened, Target staff announced the store had been sold out of the consoles since Sunday.

“Now what do I do?” Batts asked. “I’ve got just a month to find one.”

While Black Friday is expected by some analysts 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.

C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, noted that if shoppers walk into a store on Black Friday and like what they see, they will more likely go back during the Christmas season.

“This is their biggest chance to win at retail during Christmas season,” Beemer said.

Last year, retailers had a good start during the Thanksgiving weekend, but many stores struggled in December and a shopping surge just before and after Christmas wasn’t enough to make up for lost sales.

This year, analysts expect sales gains to be the weakest in five years. Washington-based National Retail Federation predicted that total holiday sales will be up 4 percent for the combined November and December period, the slowest growth since a 1.3 percent rise in 2002.

Holiday sales rose 4.6 percent in 2006 and growth has averaged 4.8 percent over the last decade.