by Calculated Risk on 11/29/2008 09:17:00 PM

Just returned from Joshua Tree (awesome trip)....

From the LA Times: Black Friday shoppers spend -- with caution

Holiday sales grew 2.4% to $460.2 billion last year compared with the previous year, according to the National Retail Federation. Many retail experts are now saying that if this season's sales figures are comparable, it will be a good year.

And although thousands of shoppers hit the stores across Southern California, industry experts worried it still wasn't enough to save Christmas.

"I don't think the holiday has a chance at all. No way," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group. "This year, that spirit is gone."

Desperate for a strong day of sales, retailers took no chances and opened their stores earlier, slashed prices even further and offered discounts on entire purchases.

"Everything seems like it's 50% off or 2 for 1, or they're running specials until noon," said Jackie Fernandez, a retail partner at accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, who was at Glendale Galleria to survey the action. "It's just endless."

From the WSJ: Shoppers Hit Stores but Mood Is Subdued

Black Friday's impact has been muddled this year by a month-long blitz of early promotions by retailers hit by shoppers' penny-pinching tendencies amid the economic downturn.

The early number are always a little confusing, but this is a short buying season, and retailers are discounting heavily, so I expect the numbers to be dismal.