The Black Friday returns are in, and it appears shoppers are opening up their wallets again, which could be a harbinger of better times in the retail industry.
A number of major retailers, including Macy's, Target, and JCPenney, are revising their fourth quarter 2010 earnings forecasts upward after reporting significant year-over-year sales gains in November following Black Friday 2010 on Nov. 26.
Macy's reported a sales increase of 7.8 percent compared to the same period last year, including a gain of 6.1 percent in same-store sales – sales at stores open for at least a year.
Thomson Reuters, which maintains an index that tracks sales at 27 national chains, including the three mentioned above, reports that sales for the group rose 6 percent from November 2009 to November 2010. The figure is significantly higher than the company's initial projection of a 3.6 percent increase in sales and a huge improvement over the 0.5 percent sales gain from 2008 to 2009.
The November figures show that the all-important Christmas shopping season got off to a great start for U.S. retailers, who did their best to coax shoppers to spend early and often with special offers and discounts that began well before Thanksgiving.
Some retailers, including Macy's, have already announced that some of their larger-than-expected seasonal hires will become permanent at the end of the season. That suggests that some retailers are confident that the sales gains seen thus far are not a one-time phenomenon but rather the beginning of a longer-term growth trend.
And if those retailers are correct in their predictions, it may also be a merry Christmas and happy holiday season for job-seekers in the retail industry as well.
Wrap up your holiday job-shopping on RetailGigs.com.
By Sandy Smith
Sandy Smith is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his career in public relations and corporate communications. His work has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia CityPaper, PGN, and a number of Web sites. Philly-area residents may also recognize him as "MarketStEl" of discussion-board fame. He has been a part of the great reserve army of freelance writers since January 2009 and is actively seeking opportunities wherever they may lie.
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