Thanksgiving Weekend Retail Sales Drop Could Be First in Seven Years

Doesn't bode well for holiday shopping season

A number of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday reported downbeat sales results at established stores in November, despite deep discounts and aggressive promotions on Black Friday weekend.

The National Retail Federation estimates Thanksgiving weekend sales declined 2.7 percent from last year, said to be the first drop in seven years. NRF also estimates that shoppers on average spent 4 percent less than last year.

Comments

[Trollificus]

I drove 800 miles to a family gathering for Thanksgiving. My brother, who works for a large retailer, missed the meal because he was forced to work extra hours on Thanksgiving day.

So I declined to participate in the great "opportunity" they gave me to save a few extra buck a day early on some wholly discretionary piece of consumer crap. I didn't shop Friday or Saturday, either, but even if I had, I would have boycotted the stores that forced their employees to work Thursday.

I can't know for sure if the reported sales decline has anything to do with people resenting being told these companies are doing us such a huge favor by catering to the worst of our impulses towards materialistic self-indulgence.

But I hope so.