Black Friday gets under way in US

Shoppers out in force, but critics say it won't be as big as usual

23 November 2007 9:40 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the US that marks the start of the Christmas season has got under way in the US.

However many critics are worried that the day which usually refers to the day when retailers swing from red ink to black in the books won't be as fruitful as in previous years.

"Retailers are worried because they are not sure what is going to grab the customers' attention", said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Retail Group told the Associated Press. "Everybody believes that early specials are the most successful retail events of the year."

In an attempt to boost sales in the run up to Christmas Wal-Mart opened its doors at 5am this morning for those not too hung-over from the festivities of Thanksgiving, offering massive discounts on TV's, digital cameras and everything in between.

Four times the number of deals from last year, Toys'R'Us is offering 101 door busters everything from Barbie to Hasbro's FurReal toys in a hope to draw in the punters.

Most shopping chains and companies are pulling out the stops with massive discounts and offers as they hope to beat the economic downturn and gloom of the US economy.

"Retailers are becoming more creative in advertising strong promotions that they hope will ultimately help them move strongly into the black this year", Thomson Financial said in a report.

But the most recent official data from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales rose by just 0.2% in October, compared with September's 0.7% gain according to the BBC.

Here in the UK without the Thanksgiving push, Christmas shopping carries on as usual.