In a special Thanksgiving Day edition of BLOOMBERG MORNING BREAK with NATHAN HAGAR, Burt Flickinger talked about retailer profitability over the holiday weekend, given Walmart's $1.5 billion in excess inventory, some 25% greater than last year, and Target's $1 billion, almost 35% higher. “Desperation Discounting” among retailers mean shoppers can certainly “outsmart the stores” from Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and into Cyber Monday.
My alma mater, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is meanwhile reporting 70% of people are holiday shopping early and also that 53% of millennials and 37% of all groups will include “up-cycled” (previously-owned) items on their holiday shopping lists. We're seeing pre-owned cars as a big category this year but now also pre-owned clothes, accessories and books. Retailers are not only competing with their own excess inventory but also shoppers going to their closets and clothes drawers to find items to re-gift to children, families and friends.
This year, gift cards will be the leader among gift-giving categories just ahead of apparel and toys with a big resurgence this year of Star Wars, Maverick Top Gun and Harry Potter licensed toys, as well as LEGO and LEGOLAND, which are all-time favorites during the holiday season,
Triple A (AAA) predicted that 56.4 million people would travel this holiday weekend, the third highest in the last 20 years, including 49 million driving. More people staying local is helpful for owner-operators of local restaurants and especially toy-store owners who have enjoyed a big resurgence since the bankruptcy and liquidation of Toys R Us and other retailers. Local retailers with unique gifts expect spectacular success, especially on Small Business Saturday with American Express reporting 59% of all Americans patronizing small businesses and restaurants, up from 56% prior year. NRF also predicted that 167 million Americans would shop between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, with over $23 billion will be spent on Small Business Saturday, an all time record.
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