Getting head start on Black Friday

Millions of shoppers across U.S. hit stores early for deep discounts

Tracy Rigual and her daughter, Rachel, have marked the start of the holiday shopping season with pre-dawn shopping trips for a decade. So when Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets started Black Friday at midnight, so did they.

Armed with coffee and a stroller for packages, the Riguals joined millions of Americans who yesterday hit stores throughout the country.

Retailers look at Black Friday, named after the day retailers traditionally start to see a profit each year, as a bellwether for how the rest of the Christmas season is going to go and a factor in consumer confidence.

So merchants loaded up on discounts this year to entice shoppers.

At Leesburg Corner, some stores offered up to 30 percent off for the first few hours after midnight. Wal-Mart and Target, the expected top draws on Black Friday, have been heavily discounting this season with deals on electronics. Wal-Mart was concerned it would repeat last year’s mistake of not discounting enough.

“Retailers went all out this year with exciting promotions and big sales to bring in shoppers,” said National Retail Federation President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Mullin. “Many stores offered substantial savings on big-ticket items for consumers, and it seems that, for many shoppers, the deals were simply too good to pass up.”

Roads into Leesburg Corner were packed and the parking lots were full shortly after midnight. Stores with big promotions, such as Ralph Lauren, Coach and Old Navy, and stores selling coffee had lines for hours.

Shoppers were camped out at Best Buy and Circuit City department stores in Northern Virginia by 10 on Thanksgiving night. Both chains opened at 5 a.m. yesterday.

Sears Holdings and Macy’s East reported “good” foot traffic at their stores.

Toys ’R’ Us Inc. Chief Executive Officer Gerald Storch told Bloomberg News that the chain’s stores had lines longer than they’ve seen in years. The toy chain had Black Friday deals such as 60 percent off select board games.

Trade groups estimate that between 100 million and 137 million Americans — more than one-third of the U.S. population participated — in Black Friday shopping.

Consumers appear to be behind on their shopping this year, possibly prompting more people to shop on Black Friday. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York trade group, about 24 percent had started their shopping by Oct. 31. Last year, 29 percent had started by then.

Mark Rein, director of strategic consulting for Maritz Research Retail Group, said Macy’s and Coach appeared to be the big winners at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., the country’s largest shopping center. Both had major Black Friday promotions.

Department stores, which lost some of their luster with young shoppers during the past few years, are poised for a comeback this holiday.

“Macy’s was very busy right at 6 this morning,” he said. “Last year, Macy’s was a ghost town here.”

Other big winners at the Mall of America were the stores that heavily promoted and discounted: Wet Seal, Victoria’s Secret, Coach and Bath & Body Works.

“In general, it’s busier than last year, without a doubt,” he said. “People are walking around with three to four bags — big bags — way more than last year.”

Some shoppers chose to stay in their pajamas and shop on the Web. For the first time, many retailers had their Black Friday deals available online — some as early as Thanksgiving Day.

“It’s definitely one of the first times we’ve noticed that retailers and Web sites are making more of a connection,” said Kathy Grannis, a National Retail Federation spokeswoman.

But some of the deals may have been too good. Frustrated shoppers were turned off by long lines and slow Web sites.

Wal-Mart’s Web site was jammed with traffic and shut down for parts of the day yesterday.

Baltimore residents Mike Hoffman, Lara Wolf and Erin Marsh looked defeated by 1 a.m. yesterday and ready to leave Leesburg Corner without any shopping bags.

“The lines are too long. It’s not worth it,” Mr. Hoffman said. “I’d rather pay full price than sit in these lines.”

Others at Leesburg just wanted to see the madness of a shopping center opening at midnight.

“I guess I’m here just to say I’ve shopped at midnight,” Leesburg, Va., resident Souzanne Al-Azm said a few minutes before midnight.

“This is our cardio,” said Terri Hackenburg of Bethesda, before shopping with her sister, Stephanie. “We’re burning off the turkey.”

Some shoppers did well. The Riguals left Leesburg Corner at 4 a.m., with about 90 percent of their shopping list done.

“I think because we got there so early, we didn’t fight traffic getting in, and one of us stood in line while the other one shopped around,” Tracy Rigual said. “It was fun.”