Metro Atlanta shoppers may see earlier sales as retailers try to get people back into their stores amid a post-Black Friday buying lull.
While Thanksgiving weekend sales were strong in Atlanta and the state, Georgia Retail Association President Rick McAllister said shoppers this past weekend weren’t as motivated to hit the stores. Sales were mostly flat compared with the same weekend in 2010.
A lull in sales in early December is normal. If sales had dropped dramatically compared with the same period last year it would have indicated shoppers were only looking for Black Friday deals, but retailers anticipate the usual uptick closer to Christmas.
Still, McAllister said he expects to see more aggressive discounting.
“Since it wasn’t gangbusters, you’ll see markdowns,” he said. “They’ll move that markdown faster. It’s a good thing for customers.”
The discounts likely won’t be any more than stores planned for originally, McAllister said. They’ll just come sooner.
Nationally, retailers experienced a strong holiday weekend, with 226 million shoppers taking advantage of sales, according to the National Retail Federation. ShopperTrak reported Black Friday sales were up 7 percent, to $11.4 billion.
Georgia stores increased their sales 7 percent or 8 percent over Thanksgiving weekend in 2010, McAllister said, with Black Friday being the biggest selling day.
Mint.com, a budgeting website, reported Atlanta was the 10th-most-active shopping city on Black Friday, with shoppers spending on average $79.05 per transaction, a 9 percent increase over last year.
Mint.com reported Atlanta Apple store shoppers spent an average of $217.09 per transaction, a 19 percent increase over last year, and the highest per-transaction total reported in the city. Kohl’s shoppers increased their spending 27 percent, to $89.59.
Stores that saw a decrease in their average transactions in Atlanta included Amazon, Nordstrom, Old Navy, Target and Best Buy. Atlanta shoppers spent more than the national average at Nordstrom, Kohl’s and Apple, according to Mint.com.
McAllister said big-box retailers and department stores that made a big deal out of Black Friday sales tended to do well. Home furnishing stores had a slow weekend, he said.
Black Friday sales were up 10 percent at Mori Luggage & Gifts, which has most of its 28 stores in malls, President John Mori said.
Sales on that Saturday were even with 2010, and the Thanksgiving weekend Sunday sales were slightly ahead.
Mori said he, too, has seen a lull following the holiday weekend, but he expects a strong finish. Sales of travel accessories are up, he said, as are those of premium luggage and laptop backpacks.
McAllister said more people are paying with credit than last year, and shoppers seem to be spending more on themselves.
“I’m still cautiously optimistic,” he said. “We’re still in the game.”
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