Black Friday Sales Up 6% to Nearly $9B; Wal-Mart Disappoints
The nation's retailers had a strong start to the holiday shopping
season, as sales rose 6% to $8.96 billion on Balck Friday, compared to
the same day a year ago, according
to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 45,000
mall-based retail outlets. However Wal-Mart sales lagged as it expects
to report same-store sales in November below its already lackluster
forecast.
Wal-Mart, however, estimated it will post a 0.1% decline in same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, in November. Same-store sales are a key performance indicator of a retailer's health.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Wal-Mart has averaged a meager 2.4% gain in same-store sales for the February-October period. That compares with a same-store sales gain of 4.8% for Target and 4.5% for Penney for the February-October period.
