Retailers, buyers in discount showdown before holidays

Long Island Business News, Dec 3, 2004 by Ken Schachter

Retailers and consumers are in a discount showdown, an analyst said, with each waiting for the other to make their move before the holidays.

It's really about who will blink first - the retailer or the consumer, said Marshall Cohen, chief industry analyst at Port Washing- ton-based researcher NPD Group.

Cohen said that shoppers are using circulars and Internet downloads to hop from store to store in search of bargains.

So far, it is apparent that the consumer is planning on waiting it out until the prices on the categories they are interested in are offered at lower prices.

In one of the early indicators of overall sales, the Retail Council of New York State reported a year-over-year increase of 2 to 4 percent statewide for the three-day Black Friday weekend.

The council's survey found that luxury retailers and consumer electronics stores opened the holiday season strongly, as did department stores, which lured shoppers with discounts.

Evan Moser, regional director of business development at Simon Property Group, owner of four major Long Island malls, noted that at 5 a.m. on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, 300 people lined up outside the KB Toys store at Roosevelt Field Mall. KB Toys, which has filed for bankruptcy, said it plans to close as many as 238 of its underperforming stores by February.

It's the opportunity to get that hot toy, he said. You can't go home without it.

By 5:30 a.m., Moser said, The Disney Store and J.C. Penney also were open, and by 10 a.m. the mall's parking lot was full.

In addition to Roosevelt Field, Simon owns the Smith Haven and Walt Whitman malls and the Source at Westbury.

Cohen said hot categories include MP3 players, portable DVD players, digital cameras and photo printers, men's dress shirts and ties, and women's handbags and footwear.

The Retail Council of New York found that popular gifts for children included Bratz for girls. And for boys? Video games and Yu- Gi-Oh cards and accessories.