From Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) to Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving that is now the biggest online shopping day of the year), consumers spent in force, making lots of purchases but spending slightly less per person than in the past three years. According to the National Retail Federation, the number of brick-and-mortar shoppers was up 4.8 percent from last year but the average amount spent was down 3.5 percent from last year. They reported that big ticket items, like high-definition televisions, which sold well last year were eschewed in favor of lower-priced digital photo frames, laptops and cashmere sweaters. Northridge Fashion Center, one of the Valley’s largest malls, reports similar information. “We are having a really good year,” said Linda Frost, the mall’s assistant general manager. “The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, was really fantastic.” With the holiday shopping season well underway, the NRF stands by its projections that holiday sales will rise 4 percent this year, to $474.5 billion nationwide. The International Council of Shopping Centers said same store sales should rise just 2.5 percent. “I definitely think we will reach the projected industry numbers.” said Frost. “We should see a four to five percent increase from last year.” People are getting up earlier and earlier to get a jump on deeply discounted gifts. The NRF said that more than 14 percent of shoppers hit the stores before 4:00 a.m. on Black Friday. At the Northridge Circuit City, there were some 800 people in line at 6:00 a.m. Frost said that makes sense since electronics are one of the hottest sectors of the retail marketplace, both locally and nationally. And neither the subprime lending mess nor the Writers Guild strike have apparently dented local retailers coffers, said Frost. “We just haven’t seen it here,” she said, adding that people are still purchasing brand name products. “It’s not that people don’t want a good deal,” she said, “they are conscious of that, but they still want quality.” Oh, and to put an urban legend to rest, Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year in terms of actual sales dollars. That record usually goes to a weekend day just prior to Christmas. Los Angeles Cheaper? Westlake Village-based ValueClick, Inc. released the results of an international study comparing the prices of average offline store prices for 26 consumer products, ranging from everyday items such as gasoline and milk to the cost of a Big Mac, an adult movie ticket and popular consumer electronics items such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Apple iPod Classic. In all, 29 cities worldwide were studied to determine price variations between each country and within seven of the most populated cities in all regions of the United States, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Seattle. While you’ll have to travel to Beijing to get the lowest prices, Valley denizens may be pleased to learn that Los Angeles is ranked ninth, being 17 percent less expensive than the international average. Houston is the only U.S. city surveyed that was found to have lower average prices.
