Best Buy not filling some online orders

Wobbly retail giant Best Buy can't seem to catch a break lately. The chain recently said its Black Friday discounts were so deep they sliced its own profit margins; now, Best Buy says it can't even fill some orders.

As this story from TheStreet lays out, customers are upset that their orders - confirmed and paid for - are being canceled by Best Buy.

Here's Best Buy's statement: "Due to overwhelming demand of hot product offerings on BestBuy.com during the November and December time period, we have encountered a situation that has affected redemption of some of our customers' online orders. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and we have notified the affected customers."

Black Friday 2011 might be remembered as a dark day for the company. Have any of you had problems with ordering from Best Buy?

J.C. Penney bombs Black Friday

While other retailers including Macy's, Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buys moved their Black Friday openings up to or even right into Thanksgiving day, J.C. Penney stuck with its usual 4 a.m. opening.

The department store chain was counting on sales from its website and loyal crowds of shoppers to keep it in the game, as the competition scrambled to open their stores earlier to get the first shoppers. J.C. Penney resisted opening as early as its rivals, saying it wanted workers to have the whole Thanksgiving day with their families.

The verdict is in on what effect that had on J.C. Penney's sales, and it wasn't pretty. "The Company noted that its decision to respect Thanksgiving Day for families and open at 4:00 a.m. on Friday, as it had in prior years, adversely impacted Black Friday sales," said J.C. Penney in a press release. "Sales remained soft in-store throughout the holiday weekend."

Sales through J.C. Penney's website on Black Friday weekend will be reported next month.

For November, sales fell 5.9 percent at J.C. Penney stores, totaling $1.74 billion. Sales at stores open a year or more, considered a key indicator of a retailer's health, were down 2 percent.

That's especially bad for the chain in a year when holiday retail as a whole continues to rebound, driven by deep discounts, and Black Friday sales as a whole were up 6.6 percent. And last year, J.C. Penney saw a 7.2 percent increase in its November sales.

So it looks like consumers have voted with their feet and their wallets, turning out in droves for 9 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight openings and shunning one of the few mass-market department stores that held out for a Friday opening.

Any retailers that consider trying to reverse the trend of Black Friday Creep will have to take note - and the earlier openings are probably here to stay.

Black Friday sales jump 6.6 percent, set new record

Retailers' strategy of opening earlier than ever paid off big, with a record $11.4 billion in sales on the year's biggest shopping day, according to the firm ShopperTrak.

The firm, which tracks both sales and foot traffic, said the number of shoppers on Friday also increased 5.1 percent. Sales were up 6.6 percent from last year's $10.7 billion.

"Despite our sluggish economy, shoppers proved they are looking for value and ready to buy," said ShopperTrak's founder Bill Martin, in a statement. "Still, it's just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday season."

This year's increase in Black Friday sales was the largest since that between 2006 and 2007, before the recession began. Sales jumped more than 8 percent that year.

This year, with retailers offering more and more pre-Black Friday promotions, sales were also up 3.8 percent the week before Thanksgiving.

Customers turned out in droves this year, as Target, Macy's, Kohl's, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us all announced their earliest openings ever, hoping to gain an edge on each other.

Black Friday: What's open when?

Black Friday is almost upon us, which means it's time for a big roundup of which stores are trying to part you with your money, and when they're opening.

Below is a list of when local chain stores and malls are opening their doors to shoppers, as well as some shopping tips. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it does cover pretty much everything I've accumulated from malls and stores over the past couple weeks.


Thursday and Friday, email any questions/observations/anecdotes/near-trampling incidents you feel like sharing with me at elyportillo@charlotteobserver.com, or call me at 704-358-5041. I get your emails on my cell phone, and I'd appreciate any feedback.

Local malls:

• SouthPark will open at 7 a.m. Friday. The following individual stores at the mall will open at midnight: Macy's, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Teavana, Lids, Express, Guess, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie and Hollister. Victoria's Secret and Belk will open at 3 a.m.
• Northlake will open at 6 a.m. Abercrombie, Abercrombie & Fitch, Aerie, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Express, Finish Line, Footlocker, Forever 21, Guess, Hollister, Lids and Perfumania will open at midnight. Bakers Shoes and Starbucks will open at 4 a.m.
• Carolina Place will open at 6 a.m. Abercrombie & Fitch, Aerie, Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Bath & Body Works, Bella Scarpa, Body Central, Bourbon Street Grill, Carolina Jewelry, Cellairis, Chick-fil-A, Children's Place, Claire's, Express, Hat Shack, Hershey's Ice Cream, Hickory Farms, Hollister Co., Hot Topic, Icing by Claire's, Express Men, Finish Line, Gamestop, Gap, The Limited, Macy's, McDonald's, Lane Bryant, New York & Company, P.S. from Aéropostale, PacSun, Perfumania, Pro Image, Sbarro, Spencer's, Sports Fan Attic, Victoria's Secret, Wet Seal and XXI Forever will open at midnight. Authentik's and Belk will open at 3 a.m., Crazy 8, Gymboree, JCPenney, Rack Room Shoes and Sears will open at 4 a.m. and Dillard's will open at 8 a.m.
• Concord Mills will open at midnight.

Other malls:
Monroe Mall will open at 3 a.m. Friday
Gaffney Outlets will open at midnight, with select stores open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving

Individual stores:
Open on Thanksgiving: Old Navy, select Banana Republic and Gap stores, K-Mart, Wal-Mart supercenters
Open at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving: Toys 'R' Us
Black Friday sales starting at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving: Wal-Mart
Opening at midnight: Target, Macy's, Kohl's and Best Buy

Useful sites to look up Black Friday ads in one place:
http://www.2011blackfridayads.com and http://bfads.net/ 


Random tips and such:

• Black Friday deals aren't always the best (Consumer Reports)
• Black Friday freebies at national chain stores (Consumerist)
• Six Black Friday secrets retailers won't tell you (Time)

So, have fun  whether you decide to shop till you drop or spend Friday morning sleeping off your turkey hangover. Follow us on Twitter @theobserver for shopping-related updates Thursday and Friday, and check out the main Charlotte Observer website too.

OSHA warns retailers to get ready for Black Friday

With retailers days away from the biggest shopping day of the year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reminding stores to take steps to ensure no one gets hurt in the rush for bargains.

The stakes for retail workers are high. In 2008, a Wal-Mart employee was killed after being trampled, when a surging crowd broke through the door and stormed the store in search of bargains.

The latest OSHA guidelines, released late last week, include a lot of common-sense steps, such as "Set up barricades or rope lines for crowd management well in advance of customers arriving at the store" and "Make sure that all employees and crowd control personnel are aware that the doors are about to open."

But other bullet points make the danger clear. Stores are advised to "Position security or crowd managers to the sides of entering (or exiting) public, not in the center of their path" - a way to avoid potential trampling incidents. Retailers should also "Keep first-aid kits and Automated External Defibrillators" on-hand, to treat any injuries or cardiac incidents that occur. 

"Locate shopping carts and other potential obstacles or projectiles inside the store and away from the entrance, not in the parking lot," OSHA advises. And "Ensure that barricade lines have an adequate number of breaks and turns at regular intervals to reduce the risk of customers pushing from the rear and possibly crushing others, including workers."

Wal-Mart to start Black Friday on Thanksgiving

If you thought Black Friday creep (the trend driving stores to open earlier and earlier the day after Thanksgiving) might be a passing fad, abandon hope: Wal-Mart is jumping into the ring.

Wal-Mart said Thursday that it will kick off its Black Friday sales at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving day, joining a host of other national retailers who are pushing shopping right up to - and even into - turkey day.

“Our customers told us they would rather stay up late to shop than get up early, so we’re going to hold special events on Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” said Duncan MacNaughton, Wal-Mart's chief merchandising officer, in a statement about the retailers earliest Black Friday ever.

The retail giant's sale will run in two waves. First, at 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 24, home goods, toys and apparel will be steeply discounted, followed by a midnight sale on electronics. Wal-Mart will also have online-only sales with free shipping on Thanksgiving, and continuing discounts through the holiday weekend.

Last year, Wal-Mart followed the early bird schedule of most retailers, starting its sale in the pre-dawn hours after Thanksgiving. But this year, Black Friday has been shifting relentlessly earlier: Kohl's, Target, Macy's and Best Buy have all announced their first ever midnight openings. Charlotte-based Belk has given an hour, announcing it will open at 3 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. this year.

Gap plans to have about 1,000 of its Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and outlet stores open on Thanksgiving day.

The race to open earlier comes as retail trade groups and analysts are mostly predicting lackluster gains in holiday spending, as the economy remains on rocky ground and it's not clear when steady improvement will begin. Black Friday is usually the biggest single shopping day of the year.

Wal-Mart has been turning the clock forward on the holiday season this year. The retailer rolled out some holiday merchandise in mid-September, its earliest yet, and held an extensive sale last weekend with discounts it said were close to Black Friday levels.

So, readers out there, what do you think? Do you buy MacNaughton's argument? Might it actually be saner to do your shopping right after Thanksgiving dinner and then fall into bed, exhausted but satisfied, at 3 a.m. or so? Or is this just one more example of creeping commercialism marching ever-deeper into once-sacred territory?

Target, Macy's and Kohl's to open at midnight on Black Friday

Add three more retailers to the ranks of those hit by Black Friday Creep: Target, Macy's and Kohl's will both open at midnight the day after Thanksgiving for the first time this year.

No longer is lining up at 4, 5 or 6 a.m. for Black Friday deals enough. Store opening times have edged earlier over the past few years, with many retailers opting to open their doors the minute Thanksgiving officially ends.

Some retailers have pushed even earlier. Last year, Sears and Kmart were open on Thanksgiving day itself for the first time, and Toys "R" Us opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

"The holidays bring hectic schedules and tight budgets, so extending store hours and offering lots of additional ways to save makes Target a great choice,” said Tina Schiel, Target's executive vice president for stores, in a press release. Target will also have longer hours the day before and after Christmas this year, the company said.

Target is also experimenting in Denver with having stores open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thanksgiving day, according to reports.

Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement that Macy's decided to open earlier this Black Friday (most stores opened at 4 a.m. last year) "in response to our customers’ eagerness to shop early for great deals."

Kohl's also said this week that it will be open from 12 a.m. Friday, Nov. 25 to midnight the following day, doing business for the full 24 hours following Thanksgiving. This will be the retailer's earliest opening ever on Black Friday.

Retailers are competing for shoppers' dollars this year as unemployment remains high and calling the recovery "weak" sounds generous. Most forecasts have called for moderate growth in consumer spending this holiday season compared to last year, though none have predicted anything spectacular.

Black Friday (which got its name, at least apocryphally, by being the day retailers went from being in the "red" to the "black"), is often, but not always, the single biggest day for consumer spending. Last year, Black Friday sales edged up less than 1 percent, to about $10.7 billion.

How early is too early? And what's the earliest you'd go to a store and line up for a Black Friday deal?

Note: Post updated to reflect Kohl's opening