Quote Originally Posted by nightflier
Wooch, that may be the report, but that wasn't at all what the sales people at CC, BB, MicroCenter, and even Costco told me. Of course, that's all local to SoCal, but if the rich mucky-mucks here aren't buying, then the average Joe probably isn't buying either.
That was what I heard from the front lines as well, but when the sales got tallied up, they showed an increase. What you're observing is perception. What the cash register totals provide is the reality.

Considering how far retail sales fell during October and November, some analysts I read suspect that there was a lot of pent up demand that got brought out via the Black Friday discounts. A lot of purchases got deferred during those months, so it makes sense that discounting would entice consumers make purchases that they had wanted to make earlier.

Quote Originally Posted by blackraven
Most people I know are buying off the internet instead of shopping at local stores.
That might be what you're hearing, but on the whole, remote retailing (which includes online, catalog, phone order, mail order sales of all stripes) still accounts for less than 10% of retail sales. Internet sites always report big percentage growth numbers, but they're starting from a much smaller base.