Sunday, November 28, 2004
Yahoo! News - U.S. Holiday Shopping Starts with $8 Billion Day
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans spent more in stores at the start of holiday shopping than a year ago, according to figures released on Saturday, but retailers' hopes for the key season were curbed as titan Wal-Mart cut its November sales forecast.
Early sales data from analyst ShopperTrak showed Black Friday sales rose 10.8 percent from a year ago to $8 billion, while Visa USA said spending on its cards rose 15.5 percent to $4.1 billion with sales up but plastic also more widely used.
Just following the lead of our fearless leaders. I guess people aren't bothering to worry about the rising interest rates on those babies.