Black Friday Revealed How Poor Americans Really Are

[marmar]

(Business Insider) Black Friday sales plummeted this year, leaving retailers completely stumped.

After weeks of declining gas prices, many analysts predicted the biggest holiday season ever. Industry groups like the National Retail Federation reasoned that Americans would use their fuel savings on gifts.

Despite encouraging forecasts, Black Friday weekend sales were down 11%. Cyber Monday sales rose 8%, falling short of many predictions.

So where are the customers?

They're probably broke, according to some analysts and executives. ..............(more)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-revealed-how-poor-americans-really-are-2014-12#ixzz3KqD2cFZ7

[gollygee]

1. Wow, so if you don't pay people well, they don't have money to buy stuff?

Who could have predicted that? I can see why they're stumped.

[GummyBearz]

10. Bingo

I really don't understand the short sighted greed of our nation's CEOs. They do realize their own workers are who buys their products right?

Maybe it has something to do with the relatively quick turn around times, and being paid mostly in stock that they can only cash in at retirement, that makes them do everything imaginable to increase profits an extra % just so they can retire a bit richer and let the next CEO deal with it after that.

[Nay]

16. Amazing, innit? Who could have known?

And let's add up all the money people are saving on gas -- for the past month, if you fill up twice a month with regular and have a gas tank that holds 15 gallons, and gas is $1 less per gallon, you have all of . . . $30 to go wild with at the mall!! Whoopee!

But of course you will mostly use that $30 to buy food, pay a bill, etc.

[Johonny]

41. But, but, but... its supposed to trickle down

weren't the wealthy buying those yachts and private planes on black Friday?

[cyberswede]

61. LOL

...and also ...'cause it's too true to be funny.

[malaise]

2. Why are they stumped?

They expect people to spend what they don't have.
Fuck the 'collective pack' and their hacks in the media who don't give a damn about anything but profit and ratings.

[el_bryanto]

6. In fairness - Americans often do spend money they don't have

By going deeper into debt. Perhaps we've reached the limits of debt or perhaps people are just wising up to how foolish that is.

Bryant

[Nay]

21. True to a point -- but lots of those credit spenders have been bounced

out of the middle class and woken up to their predicament, or the banks/credit card companies have cut them off since their income is now so low.

[Sheepshank]

26. I think you have a good point there

...people who are already in debt and are reluctant to add to it.

Then there are those people that survived the recession by being frugal and they are sticking with that plan. Like the old folks that survived the depression...they simply don't overspend any more and are trying to get away from the commercialism.

[Arugula Latte]

46. I think besides the whole debt/being broke thing, there is some backlash against all the materialism

A segment of the population is finally tired of the rampant consumerism every December.

[Sheepshank]

48. count me in as one of those. n/t

[TransitJohn]

8. They assumed everyone would spend keep spending credit and

not adjust to the new reality.

[hobbit709]

3. And in other news: Water is wet.

They off-shored all the jobs. Nothing but low-paying service jobs left. All the falling gas prices did was make the difference between not eating for 2 days at the end of the month and eating.

[djean111]

4. Duh. Looks like the 1% forgot that the recovery didn't trickle down. Wasn't meant to, really.

I don't participate in the Black Friday thing, because I am living on Social Security and some help from a very dear friend.
However, if I was to somehow be able to bring in more money or need to spend less on things like gas, I would not rush out and spend that money on "stuff", because now I know that the money can disappear overnight. I would bet a lot of people feel that way. I cannot even depend on Social Security, if the GOP or Third Way manages to get its hands on it. So - why would I rush out and spend money on things I do not really need?

I think, for many people, the expectation that things will always go well, or that they can recover from a catastrophe like job loss or major medical bills, is smashed. For some, maybe money saved on gas goes to student loans.

Hopefully I will not see another president on TV exhorting us to go to the mall and spend spend spend. Until there are jobs, and not the looming TPP "deals", Social Security is expanded and not threatened, until we have Single Payer - why would anyone who needs to care about gas prices go out and buy "stuff"? Why go out and go further into debt? Doesn't compute.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Most people aren't expecting a raise

Because they haven't gotten one for years.

[GreatGazoo]

7. I just hope Kirk Cameron can handle the news.

He worked so hard to convince us all to buy the "biggest turkey"...

Perhaps the only Christmas movie I can think of, especially of the religious-themed variety, that seems to flat-out endorse materialism, greed and outright gluttony.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kirk_camerons_saving_christmas/

[postulater]

9. Easy. Finally everyone has everything they need.

[Sanity Claws]

11. Finally someone said it

I've heard so much spin. Some arguing that the Thanksgiving day openings took away from Black Friday and so forth. The real truth is that people don't have the kind of disposable income they used and realize that this situation is not likely to change anytime soon.

In 2008 when the crash happened, people still spent because they thought things would turn around and go back to the way things were. Several years of hardship have hit people hard. Even if they have recovered a little from the crash, they know they don't have the disposable funds they used to have.

[KingCharlemagne]

12. Hello. 95% of the gains from this so-called 'recovery' have accrued to the top

1%. Thus, even during the recovery, the concentration of wealth continued (and may even have further accelerated).

So the stock market new highs help mainly the 1% that control 40% of the country's wealth (while admittedly boosting workers' 401-K accounts somewhat, those who haven't depleted them prematurely to make their house and car payments anyway). It really matters very little if GDP grows or unemployment falls if the fruits of the expansion of GDP or decline in unemployment accrue mainly to the upper class.

[ReRe]

13. You're damn right that's what it proved...

... but they ain't seen nothing yet. This is going to continue into the foreseeable future. People aren't using their credit cards as much as they used to either. Everybody I know has been working on those credit card balances. They buy gifts for the little ones and forgo gifts for adults.
One of these days, Black Friday will be a thing of the past.

[Skink]

14. Can't even afford gas now

Perhaps the market for gas is collapsing due to slumping sales.

[RadiationTherapy]

15. I went from half-time to full-time employment this year. We bought a modestly priced car in August

and arranged with the family to not buy gifts for one another in November. hahahaha. Nice economy, assholes.

[Nay]

24. "nice economy, assholes" indeed. It's not just families that have been hurt

by this economy who have stopped spending, either. Mr Nay and I are doing fairly well, as is Sonny Nay, but we all decided to forego presents for the adults and just do modest stuff for the kids. We all know WE could be thrown in the meat grinder any day, so we have voluntarily cut out lots of spending.

We were cheap and thrifty before, now we're total skinflints.

[jwirr]

58. We drew names for the children. They are going to be hit with this idiots economy. Maybe the stores

can send all that stuff back to China for the children there.

[Johonny]

47. Even if you were lucky and survived 2008

Interest rates have been below 1% for years so if you were lucky enough to have savings it isn't generating any income for you. People that have been employed have seen zero raises years after year or even cuts to their salary. A lot of the gains are in mythical money like 401Ks which many aren't of the age to tap into. Finally even if you make good money and could spend on the holiday season the thought of the next down turn and more dry times to come keeps you from wanting to blow 1000$ on crap you really can live without.

You know what I want for Christmas, a decent economy.

[1StrongBlackMan]

17. Or, the lower sales could show ...

that people are no longer willing to fight to get into a big box store looking for that $5.52, 92" Flat screen TV that "must have sold just before they got there!" (There really was one ... the retailer promised.)

[LiberalEsto]

18. There were probably more lots people shopping at Ross yesterday than at JC Penney

I made the mistake of going to Ross, a store chain that sells deeply discounted clothes and household items, yesterday. Tuesday is 10% senior discount day, and I've never seen such a long checkout line there before, even with all registers open. The Dollar Tree is also incredibly busy.

I almost never go to the nearby mall, but last week I was looking for something and found the place incredibly empty for this time of year. I can remember when parking at the mall was almost impossible during December. Now the mall lets car dealers park hundreds of extra vehicles there to make the lots look fuller than they usually are.

The middle class is broke.

[mountain grammy]

19. Duh, duh and duh again.. yes, more people are working

and catching up on car and home repairs they put off. If the fucking Republican morons in Congress would raise the minimum wage and pass a single payer system. we will shop. Got that, corporations?

[maced666]

20. They weren't acting poor 1 day before

Family went to movies Thursday night....could not park at mall not one space available. We got a red box movie and went home.

[GeorgeGist]

69. Cool story, bro.

[Perseus]

22. Part of the problem, also

is the fact that although gas prices went down which should translate to lower prices across the board, it doesn't happen, retailers do not drop their prices. I did not see great deals during Black Friday, not that I looked hard either, I do admit, but what little I saw was not impressive.

And food prices seem to be immune to drop in gas prices.

[ffr]

23. Saving for my retirement, b/c everything's getting more expensive

and I don't want to depend on anyone or be homeless when I grow old.

Besides, I don't need another TV for hamburger's sake!

[Pacifist Patriot]

25. My family is doing better now than we were a few years ago when...

our situation was rather bleak.

We gave mostly Gift Certificates of Time/Labor....i.e. we made actual certificates with promises like:

An hour hour long walk on the beach at sunset with just you
A family picnic in the park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon
Good for one car wash (meaning in the driveway with my labor)
Pick one weekend and I'll do your chores for you

ETC

Well guess what? Now that we're feeling more stable financially we have no intention of changing this tradition. Sure we may give one or two presents we couldn't have been able to afford back then, but they won't be remotely extravagant, and the bulk of our giving will stay just like this!

The last ten years have changed people's spending habits in many ways. I know a lot of people who are not about to go back to loading up credit cards the way we did in decades preceding.

I think we could be both poorer and wiser. I mourn the former and sincerely hope the latter to be true.

[raccoon]

71. Gift certificates like those, great idea. nt

[HockeyMom]

27. Rich people aren't shopping either

My daughter works at Bloomindale's. Dead as a doornail she says. Oh, maybe the Republicans need to give them a big fat tax cut? lol

[hatrack]

28. After Decades Of Gnawing Carcass Of Middle Class, Corporate "Murka Surprised To Find Mostly Gristle

And we should find this surprising . . . . why?

[Bad Thoughts]

29. Every deal was some form of Buy One/Buy Two, Get One Free/50% deal

Maybe there were savings to be had, but only if you were willing to buy the same thing two or three times over. That means there would be less variety of gifts that someone could give or products they could buy. I doubt that three Transformers would make great gifts for an 8 year old boy, and 6 year old girl, and a toddler. Retailers shot themselves in the foot.

[dumbcat]

30. Maybe some people didn't go to the malls

because they were afraid of some spill over of Ferguson protests or something? I know at least one person in my neighborhood that expressed that fear.

[Ed Suspicious]

38. It's the black folks who are to blame for the low sales? Black Friday just got blacker.

[dumbcat]

42. Sarcasm, right?

I hope.

[Ed Suspicious]

59. I thought yours was sarcasm. Snide aside, I don't think the protests in MO had much to do with it.

[treestar]

31. But yet they had to expand the hours to include Thanksgiving day itself.

Are they including that in their counting?

[Liberal_Dog]

32. People Must Have Money Before They Can Spend Money

One would think that these idiots would realize that but their god,Cheap Labor, must be worshipped above all else.

[rurallib]

33. where did they pull this stat from?

"Health insurance premiums have increased between 39% and 56% since early 2013, meaning additional costs of $230 per month for the average family."

I thought health care costs were relatively static

[Fearless]

34. I work as a restaurant manager

After black Friday our sales have dropped company wide by about 12%. People are broke.

[Darb]

36. It's only been 4 days.

That's an interesting stat. Do you usually do "next 4 day" comparisons after a big day?

[Fearless]

45. We follow trends on a day to day basis

In comparison to last year. Typically we would see an increase in business in the days after Thanksgiving as parents out shopping will take young kids to lunch etc etc. This year it looks like people just don't have the money after shopping to go eat. Sales are off this week about 12% from last year while for the rest of the year they're hovering about 0%. I expect to see a small rebound after the next payday but sales will likely remain sluggish into February.

[Darb]

35. Or maybe people just wised up to ridiculous Black Friday bullshit.

Those sales are a crock for most.

[Historic NY]

39. Yup and its the stupid lines people of scrambling to get a deal....

on limited merchandise. Like all those TV's people bought thinking they were getting great deals last yr, you know the ones that were actualy TV monitors that need tuners.

Black Friday, I say Christmas Eve shopping is more of a challenge. For its got to go pricing.

[ileus]

37. fuel savings? 20 bucks....doesn't equate to multiple gifts.

We're saving about 20 bucks a tank in the Xterra...but that's ONLY 20 bucks. 3 tanks a month in the Nissan = 60 bucks. 60 bucks isn't doesn't even get noticed in the budget.

[Bad Thoughts]

40. It's like the supposed savings from tax breaks

They don't add up to much in the long run, they detract from other types of spending (like fixing infrastructure). If retailers want their goods to move faster, maybe they should not mark up their prices to begin.

[Ed Suspicious]

64. It gets noticed, but it just goes toward catching up on other late bills. Discretionary income is

largely nonexistent.

[ileus]

66. We paid off my DWs car 11/14 and we

still haven't found that extra 475 bucks a month. It just means we don't have to be behind on her student loans...

[Initech]

43. Probably broke? More like intentionally broke.

The billionaires extreme greed is sinking the entire world into a global great depression. And unlike the last one, this one is going to be incredibly difficult to get out of. And it doesn't take an Ivy League economic major to figure this out.

[tammywammy]

44. These analysis of Black Friday are short sighted.

First, retailers extended sales to the week before (and some the whole month of November) Thanksgiving. Black Friday is no longer the big kickoff of holiday shopping like it was just a few years ago. Secondly, consumers know that retailers will extend these sales into January.

Looking just at Black Friday sales does not take the prior purchases two days earlier into account. I'll wait until the 4Q earnings are released, that will show an accurate representation of consumer spending.

[world wide wally]

49. I think that a tax cut for the wealthy would probably fix it

[raouldukelives]

50. The problem is many retailers don't have Black Friday sales.

If Maybach, Tiffany, Rolex and Gulfstream had Black Friday sales I bet that would help pump up the averages. Just as we rely on spending by the uber wealthy for bumping other economic indicators.
You stick 100,000 poor people in a room it doesn't look too good. Just add one Walton family member to the mix and voila!

[tammywammy]

54. They don't have sales bc it doesn't fit with their business plan.

The market buying those items aren't buying based off sales. They're not price sensitive, they're brand sensitive. If Maybach had a sale it can be detrimental to their overall brand. They're not competing on price.

[IHateTheGOP]

51. Turns out that way

Turns out that if only the rich have money, most of it isn't spent. Go figure.

[Half-Century Man]

52. No Shit?

Guess nobody could have seen that coming.

[jwirr]

53. Congress is not the only group out of touch with the people. Hey guys trickle down did not work and

you still keep supporting candidates who think it did. The bottom is dry and getting dryer, especially with the next two years in view.

[nxylas]

55. The Waltons: not as smart as Henry Ford

Our Ford knew the wisdom of paying his workers enough to buy his cars.

[turbinetree]

56. Really you think

We have an attack on the American labor force, we have unemployment at over 18 million, we have no unemployment checks, we have over 54 million people going hungry, we have homes that are still being foreclosed on, we have food programs being wiped out, we have earned income tax credit under assault, we have corporations paying nothing in taxes, we have those making income off the wall street banks wiping out savings and pension plans in black pools making millions, we have .1% being offered in saving accounts at banks and credit unions, we have student debt in the trillions, we have a wars that were put on a credit card, we have infrastructure falling apart and we have a DO NOTHING REPUBLICAN CONGRESS, not creating one jobs bill, not creating any relief in this country, and we have a right wing U.S. supreme legislating from the bench to eviscerate everyone that don't believe that "corporations are people to my friends" mentality.
So really think that the same corporations that have created the above synopsis and mess should not be held accountable for there problems, they bought, sold and bribed the above Congress to get this result----duh

[bigwillq]

57. The economy still stinks for most of us

I wish our government would get a clue.

[Travis_0004]

60. Car sales were way up in November

SUV sales (which tend to be more expensive) were also way up.

So a lot of people are not struggling.

Did the increase in thanksgiving traffic cut into black friday traffic? Were black friday sales just not as good this year?

Why did cyber monday sales smash old records?

[Historic NY]

65. Maybe people are getting the message...

about workers getting stuck on Thanksgiving & after with ridiculous hours. Then again the waether sucked in some areas too.

[arikara]

62. Everybody in our family, and friends too

have all independently said "no presents". I got my shopping done already, a pack of comfy socks for each of 5 people from costco. Something that is always useful, and very importantly doesn't break the bank. Nobody that I know wants any more stuff, everyone is trying to get rid of clutter and crap so why add more to it.

I think downsizing goes along with hard economic times and even if the credit card is paid off, why ever would you want to rack it up for more cheap crap? Its not like anything is of any quality anyhow, its all just made to break and be replaced.

[nilesobek]

67. I haven't celebrated any holiday in 11 years.

People ask me, "where is your Christmas? Its all about priorities and Christmas is not on the list as long as we have a continuing financial crisis. One paycheck from being homeless, yet fucking again, does not bring out a "Christmas spirit," in me.

Quite the opposite really. I hate Christmas now. I wouldn't celebrate it if I had the money.

[Cha]

68. There's that.. but even if I had money to spend on Christmas Presents..

I wouldn't go out on Black Friday.. especially this year or any year.

Not that into it.

[xchrom]

70. du rec.