AUTOREFRESH 
Black Friday sales rise
By Jamie Coleman || November 30, 2008 at 10:39 GMT
|| 2 comments || Add comment
Consumers may be cautious but they are still consuming. Black Friday sales were up 3% over last year. The trick will be to see if sales were just pulled forward from later in the season or if they will maintain their unexpected strength.
Something else that I wonder about is; the number of transactions that were on credit. The Mrs. manages a retail store (AE) and said that most of the black friday purchases were cash and debit. That really surprised me.
I look at this years sales one way. American’s are shaken by the economic downturn, so i’m of the opinion that when people are depressed or scared, they either- (A) eat more junk food for comfort- (B) get hammered more often- (C) blow money erratically- or like myself (D) all of the above. “grin”
Perhaps those who have some extra cash on hand are using it now before things get even worse (or the “Magic One” decides someone else nededs it more the those who earned it. (”Evil Grin”).