Published: December 01, 2008 10:24 am      

Retailers report brisk start to holiday season

CHARLESTON — Many Charleston Town Center merchants are saying this past Black Friday was their best in 10 years, said Lisa McCracken, the Town Center's marketing director.

"I had apparel retailers tell me this, candle retailers, jewelry retailers," McCracken said. "It was across the board."

National media are also reporting that sales were strong over the weekend, "so I don't think it was just us," McCracken said.

Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 over the Black Friday weekend, up 7.2 percent from last year, according to a survey of 3,370 consumers conducted Nov. 27-29 by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation.

More than 172 million shoppers visited stores and Web sites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year, according to the survey.

Bridget Lambert, president of the West Virginia Retailers Association, said that although she won't have state survey results until later this week, "I think in West Virginia our retailers also saw brisk sales over the holiday weekend. We're very pleased with those results.

"Retailers realized early on that they needed to offer very good discounts to get shoppers to come out," Lambert said. "I think it was a good strategy that worked for us."

Tracy Mullin, chief executive officer of the National Retail Federation, said in a prepared statement, "Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season's hottest items, helped drive shopping all weekend. Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again."

The National Retail Federation continues to project that holiday sales will rise 2.2 percent this year.

Mike Ward, co-owner of Cornucopia, 912 Bridge Rd., said the weekend "was really good."

"Our favorite line is, don't believe what you read in the papers," Ward said. "All of the negative build-up at the beginning of the season was not the case for us. Of course one weekend does not a season make, and we have a ways to go."

McCracken said 10 percent to 20 percent of holiday sales are rung up on Black Friday weekend. "It really just sets the tone," she said. "We'll have to wait to see what consumers do. We expect merchants to continue their great sales and values. So we're still optimistic for a good season."

Despite the turmoil on Wall Street, "We still have children and grandchildren we want to share the holidays with and Christmas still comes," she said. "Although I'm not an economist, the recent lowering of gas prices certainly didn't hurt shoppers' morale."

Lambert said the state's strong economy is a plus for West Virginia retailers. "There's been some growth in certain segments of our economy - the coal and natural gas industries have grown. That's been providing a lot of economic stimulus to our state," she said.

West Virginia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in October, the latest month for which data is available. The national rate was 6.5 percent.