Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. As always, many stores are opening their doors earlier and extending sales for longer periods of time. Plus there’s a rise in consumer confidence this month. So this year, the shopping period looks promising for retailers. It’s estimated that 152 million people plan to shop this weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s up 10 percent from last year. But despite the good news, the economy is still weak. Michael Butler is a marketing strategist in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Butler started a Black Friday Shopper Support Group on Facebook. He joins the program to talk about his plans for Black Friday.
Last holiday season Elizabeth Reiher of Miami Gardens, Florida told The Takeaway about her Black Friday shopping. This year she’s staying home.
Also, New York Times finance and Wall Street reporter Louise Story talks about retail sales this Black Friday and what this says about consumer confidence.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.