Black Friday is not what it used to be!
Big Apple shoppers preferred affordable brands like Zara and Abercrombie & Fitch over high-end retailers like New York’s famed Bergdorf Goodman on Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, as concerns about inflation peaked at 12 years.
Bargain hunters who flock to brick-and-mortar stores to try to score Black Friday deals told The Post that the savings are dwindling.
Brian Johnson, 56, said he no longer feels like he’s getting a deal, while standing outside the Nike store in Manhattan with his daughters and grandson.
“It’s not Black Friday like it used to be. It does not seem. I remember when I used to come to New York with $300 or a little more and buy sneakers, boots, coats, jeans… Now for $300 you get much, much less,” Johnson said.
“They say I’m getting a deal, but I’m not because everything is so high.
“I’m going to go into a little debt,” he admitted, adding that he was using his credit card for post-Thanksgiving purchases.
Brian Johnson, 56, said Black Friday isn’t what it used to be.
Kirsten Brown, 34, from Brooklyn, only saved $100 on Lego.Robert Miller
The native New Yorker, who now lives in Virginia but has family in New Jersey, had to skip Thanksgiving with his relatives last year because he couldn’t afford it.
This year, although he recovered from the celebrations, he gave up having a Christmas tree at home.
“The tree is more expensive this year and there are not enough gifts to put under the tree. “I’m going to decorate the fireplace and put some things on the mantel,” the father told the Post.
Kirsten Brown, 34, of Brooklyn, is also feeling the weight of skyrocketing prices.
Her son, overjoyed, dragged her to the Lego store in Rockefeller Center, who wanted the Avengers Towers, which came out at midnight, and the Knights of the Lion’s Castle, which they got for a whopping $800.
Brown said she saved only $100 despite it being the sales day of the year, but she was trying not to worry about it because her son was “delighted” with her gifts.
“The price of everything has gone up. The selling price brings the price down to full cost from what it used to be,” he said.
“You think you’re winning but technically you’re not.”
Shoppers braving the cold to stock up on good deals were seen favoring affordable brands like Zara and Abercrombie & Fitch over high-end retailers like New York’s famed Bergdorf Goodman. Pablo Martinka
Inflation has slowed Christmas spending. Pablo Martinka
Brown said he even knows people who are weighing their options and asking themselves, “Do I take a vacation or do I buy this?”
Although his mother’s wallet was feeling the pressure of inflation, little Nathan was elated, saying, “I’m happy to have such a good mother.”
Other cash-strapped shoppers looking for good deals still chose to shop at cheaper stores, despite the sales.
They were seen getting 25% off everything at Abercrombie, up to 40% off select Zara items, and up to 50% off Mango sales for holiday gifts, instead of expensive or luxury products.
Meanwhile, Apple offered its customers gift cards on some purchases and Bergdorf Goodman, which houses luxury brands such as Oscar de la Renta and Valentino, offered a $500 gift for a $2,000 purchase, which has become a reach for the average buyer amid rising inflation.
Prices rose a staggering 18.2% in October this year compared to October 2020, according to the latest inflation figures.
The consumer price index, which tracks changes in the costs of everyday goods and services, rose 3.2% last month, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many shoppers now prefer to do their shopping online instead of going to physical stores. Pablo Martinka
Still, even more affordable brands aren’t seeing the numbers like they used to.
“People come in waves, but it’s not like in the past, when people were lining up at 4 a.m.,” a Mango sales employee told The Post on Friday. “I think more people practice Cyber Monday.”
Many New Yorkers agreed and confessed that they plan to do all their holiday shopping online.
Chloe Roberts, 36, said she shops “exclusively online” as it is already “too difficult” to shop in retail.
“You get it in the mail, you try things on and you send it back. This is an easier process,” she said.
Zara on Fifth Avenue saw lines and customers moving between the racks in search of pink sale tags, but customers did not leave with giant bags full of clothes like years before.
Patty, who gave only her first name, spent about $170 inside the store and said she got some “really good deals.”
Even the most affordable brands don’t see the numbers like they used to.Paul Martinka
“We have a lot of good things,” said the mother, who was shopping with her daughter Kelly.
“We probably saved about $100,” Kelly agreed.
However, Kelly admitted that she does most of her shopping online so she doesn’t have to “deal with the crowds.”
Patty, however, likes to stick to store shopping, saying, “I’m old-fashioned. I like people to keep their jobs. I like to pay in person. “I like seeing a human in front of me.”
Vacation spending is expected to hit its lowest level in five years this year. The National Retail Federation expects overall sales to increase between 3% and 4% for the rest of the year, up from a 5.4% increase last year and a 12.7% increase in 2021.
“They had savings from the stimulus checks that have now been exhausted,” Richard Baum, managing partner at Consumer Growth Partners, told The Post.
“They don’t have much discretionary income to spend and this year they have less than last year, even though inflation is starting to decline.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn