Here’s the headline and tease on <$NoAd$>the front of the CNN website as of 2:50 AM on Saturday morning …
Retailers Seeing Holiday Sales Increase: Millions of people Friday got an early start to one of the busiest shopping days of the year, lining up outside stores long before the sun came up. Analysts expect stronger sales this holiday season but that discounts won’t be as deep as last year’s. There are reports that luxury retailers are even raising prices.
Here are the first few grafs of the lead story on the CNN Business news website …
Rain and leaner discounts greeted shoppers across much of the nation on Black Friday, a day that marks the official start of the holiday sales season.
“Early indications show that store traffic and the promotional activity is at lower levels than last year at this time,” said Kurt Barnard, an independent retail consultant. “I wouldn’t be surprised if many retailers try to get away with selling merchandise at full price.”
Barnard anticipates that same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — will rise between 1 percent and 3 percent for the three days including Black Friday and the coming weekend.
“That’s not fantastic by any means,” Barnard said.
A bit of a disconnect?
