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Today and Monday are crucial days for retailers. But some retail analysts don't expect sales to be stellar this holiday season.
Retailers are expecting soft sales number from Black Friday this year, similar to what we had last year.
Utah Retail Merchants Association President Jim Olsen said, "We were up 2.7 [percent], somewhere in that, over the year prior. We're looking at probably numbers in that same rage, 2.5 to 2.7 [percent] over last year."
But Olsen says if you adjust for inflation, retailers would pretty much break even with last year. He says stores that sell things like food and clothes should do fine this holiday season. Other stores might not be so lucky.
"If they're in the luxurious, discretionary type of merchandise then those are the ones that are a little afraid of what's going to happen," he said.
Olsen says luckily none of the retailers in the association are looking at this holiday season as their last chance to make money this year.
"In Utah, I think we're soft, but we've been in a pretty ‘revved up' mode in our economy, so a softening was to be expected," he said.
While the brick and mortar stores may have been focusing on getting their deals ready for today, the online retailers are trying to cash in on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Overstock.com Marketing and Customer Care Senior Vice President Stormy Simon said, "Thanksgiving is a little later this year, so the holiday shopping hasn't picked up as quickly. But I think we've held our own. We're pleasantly surprised given the rumors we've heard about retail economy."
But Simon says sales are slightly lower than they were hoping. Then again, the economy wasn't going through all the problems it has now when they put their plan together.
"When we do our projections for the year it's in January or February. So what we projected for is a bit higher than what's happened," she said.
Simon says their business isn't expected to take as big a hit as other stores might if the economy stays shaky.
"In times like these, people tend to shop with us more because we're a discount retailer," she explained.
She says they'll add extra customer service representatives to handle the swarm of calls they expect for Cyber Monday.
Helpful Cyber Monday Links:
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
