WBEZ | black friday

Labor groups, employees protest during Black Friday at Chicago Wal-Mart stores

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 09:03:00 -0600

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Chicago area Wal-Marts today as holiday shoppers crowded the stores for Black Friday sales.

A group of Wal-Mart employees called the Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart (OUR Walmart) transported protesters around the city in buses. Protesters want the nation’s largest retailer to offer more dependable schedules, better health care and higher wages to employees.

Both sides have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board as part of an their ongoing dispute.

Park Forest resident and Wal-Mart employee Marie Kanger-Born said she hopes the Black Friday protests will give the movement momentum.

"The rest of the country has started to take notice of the plight of the Wal-Mart workers," Kanger-Born said. "This is America. Everyone should be able to work one job and make a decent livable wage."

Chicago resident and Sam's Club employee Rosetta Brown said she has protested how Wal-Mart treats workers like her for more than a decade.

"We’re just tired of taking it and we need to be heard," Brown said. "I mean, a person should be able to exercise their right to vote if they want a union. The workers are speaking out saying we need help and we’re coming together. What’s wrong with that? Wal-Mart should be listening and having a meeting with all of us."

Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg didn't address the protesters concerns directly but said Friday morning that the protests were not getting in the way of holiday shoppers. The company was on track to have its best-selling Black Friday event ever.

"Last night during our Black Friday events we had only 26 protests occurred at stores (nationwide) and many of them did not include any Wal-Mart associates," Lundberg said.

He said Wal-Mart estimated that fewer than 50 associates participated in protests nationwide on Friday night.

"In fact this year, roughly the same number of associates missed their scheduled shift as last year," Lundberg said.

Early Cyber Monday estimates show sales are up

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:28:00 -0600

IBM Benchmark is reporting Cyber Monday sales are up Monday afternoon by 20 percent compared to a year ago. Department store online sales have gone up 39 percent compared to last Cyber Monday.

Andrew Lipsman is the vice president of marketing at the online research firm ComScore.

"We've seen particular strength on Black Friday obviously in brick and morter locations but in online, we saw it grow from 26 percent to 816 million, that's the heaviest total in history we have seen on Black Friday. But we are also expecting to see a banner cyber Monday of about 1.2 billion in spending," Lipsman said.

The National Retail Federation reported a record of 226 million shoppers have hit the stores and websites since Thanksgiving. That number is up from 212 million last year.

Black Friday on the Mag Mile

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:21:00 -0600

Chicago's Magnificent Mile shopping strip is teeming with Black Friday shoppers Friday. But if Chicagoans were shopping downtown, they were certainly hard to find.

The majority of people polled were from not just out of state, but from overseas - here to take advantage of a recession and good deals. Ben Schamisso from Belgium said he's impressed by the folks camping out in front of shops late last night.

"We have people being crazy over shopping in Europe too, but I do think people are a little crazier here," Schamisso said.

Shoppers may have been lining up at the wee hours of the morning, but everyone we talked to said they're only buying what they can afford this year and paying for it immediately, like Alison Stambaugh.

"I'm not doing the credit thing this year. I'm not gonna get in the hole again," Stambaugh said.

For Anne-Marie Poltorak, the economy has provided a new perspective on the Black Friday craze.

"As we're getting older and our kids are getting older, it's more of an experience of family and not so much things. We don't exchange as much," Poltorak said.

It's estimated 152,000,000 people will be holiday shopping around the country into the weekend.

Economists predict big turnout for Black Friday sales

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:00:00 -0600

Retailers opened their doors early this morning to Black Friday shoppers, and some economists say after a year of economic turbulence, this might be the busiest one in years.

"The timing just couldn't be worse," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago

Swonk said after a year of record gas prices, stagnant wages, high unemployment and volatile stock market swings, consumer confidence has plummeted. As a result, she said people are planning to spend less on Christmas gifts this year.

Meanwhile, Mara Devitt, who's with a Chicago-based retail consulting firm, said shoppers looking for the best deals on popular items could make this Black Friday one of the busiest in recent years.

"Because of all of the economic pressures plus the way the retailers have made it more accessible it's going to make for a much more exciting and busier black friday this year," said Devitt.

Both Devitt and Swonk said retailers are anticipating improvements on sales from last year, but they credit that to shoppers buying necessities for themselves rather than gifts for others.

The Paper Machete Radio Magazine: Shannon Cason on the phenomenon of Black Thursday

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:27:00 -0600

Shannon Cason is a real live Macy's employee (he sells women's shoes).

So the Former Moth GrandSLAM champion is more than equipped to give you his thoughts on Black Friday's move to Thursday, in his Paper Machete Consumer Reports Report.

Below, the beginning of his diatribe. And as usual, if you can hear us, this magazine is LIVE.

In recent years, Black Friday has started earlier and earlier as retailers try to get a jump on the holiday shopping season and appeal to consumer demand. Last year, for instance, Macy's opened its doors at 4 a.m.

This year, however, retailers will mimic the international dateline and begin the day in relation to the rotation of the earth; from 12 am to 12 am, a true Black Friday.

Sales are brightening; October retail sales rose .3 percent, and holiday retail spending is expected to grow 2.3 percent, according to the National Retail Federation. NFR also forecasts a 27 percent increase in Black Friday shoppers.

To account for this increase, Target has announced that it will open its doors at midnight this year, following surveys that showed customer demand for this.

Popular stores like Macy's, Best Buy and Kohl's blame Target for moving up its opening time and forcing them to respond to keep up. As a result, all three retails plan to open their doors at midnight as well. But the midnight opening doesn't come without backlash....

This Saturday's Paper Machete kicks off at the Horseshoe at 3 p.m., where you can expect to see Phillip Dawkins, the playwright responsible for The Homosexuals; Micah Philbrook of The Tim and Micah Project; Katie Rich of Second City; magician Dennis Watkins of the House Theatre; and a special performance by Barrel of Monkeys. Music from the Machete house band, Sleepy Lou.

The Paper Machete is a weekly live magazine at the Horseshoe in North Center. It's always at 3 pm, it's always on Saturday, and it's always free. Get all your The Paper Machete Radio Magazine needs filled here, or download the podcast from iTunes here.

Carol Moseley Braun tours 87th Street on Black Friday

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:58:00 -0600

Chicago mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun is spending Black Friday touring a commercial corridor on 87^th Street.

November 27^th is nationally dubbed Small Business Saturday. Organizers said it’s a way to support local commerce as the holiday shopping season commences.

Essential Elements on east 87^th Street is a clothing store that’s participating. It’s also one of the merchants Moseley Braun visited near Stony Island.

"The businesses in the neighborhoods need as much attention and help as downtown. And while it’s great to shop – we’ve got great shopping in the Loop and down North Michigan. At the same time there’s some great stores in the neighborhoods as well," Moseley Braun said.

She said the city should leverage the private sector to invest in small, neighborhood businesses.

Is the term 'Black Friday' outdated?

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 06:00:00 -0600

Some economists expect retailers to be pleased with the amount of shoppers out Friday. That's after a few disappointing Black Fridays in recent years.

Diane Swonk thinks the term Black Friday is outdated. "I think it should be crowned Red Tag Friday," she said. Swonk is chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. She said Black Friday is now more of a season as opposed to just one day. She expects long lines Friday and retail sales to be the best they've been in four years. But, "When you've lowered the bar so low, it's easy to clear the hurdle," she said.

Swonk says sales of high end items, like jewelry, dipped during the recession but those are expected to rebound nicely this year.

Meantime, the Chicago Police Department is stepping up patrols downtown Friday. Officers are trying to crack down on pickpocketing around the city's major shopping areas on Michigan Avenue and State Street. Police Commander Ken Angarone said subways and stores with a high amount of foot traffic are prime targets for pickpocketers.

"Any time you have crowds, that's an opportunity for increased criminal activity. Where a criminal feels that he can become anonymous in a crowd, that's a prime opportunity."

Angarone said shoppers should keep their purses in front of them when walking in crowded areas.

Sears, other stores hope for shoppers on Thanksgiving Day

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:01:00 -0600

This year, some retailers are hoping for a Black Thursday in addition to a Black Friday.

The economic slump is pushing some retailers to encroach on a once sacrosanct holiday. For the first time, Sears will open Thanksgiving morning. Sears spokeswoman Natalie Norris-Howser says this is a response to what customers want.

``Every opportunity they can take to check that one more thing off of their list, they’re willing to do,’’ Norris-Howser said.

But not everyone thinks it will yield much of a payoff. Morningstar analyst Paul Swinand says it’s a gamble that he usually sees from retailers that are struggling.

``You might have just captured somebody you would have captured later in December anyway, so now you’ve spent more money to capture the same amount of sales in aggregate over the holiday period,’’ Swinand said.

Many Old Navy stores will open on Thanksgiving, but most retailers are waiting till Black Friday. Carson Pirie Scott hopes people will take a little catnap after digesting pumpkin pie and head out to shop at 3:00 am on Friday.

Dangerous Toys: How do you really shop safe?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:57:00 -0600

Black Friday is nearly upon us, and if you're a parent you're probably trying to figure out what to get your kids. It seems like everyone is releasing a list to help parents:

W.A.T.C.H. has already put out its list of ten most dangerous toys for the year.
U.S. PIRG has been hyping its "Trouble in Toyland" shopping guide and their "smart phone website", but it sadly doesn't deliver. If you want to read a bunch of boring statistics that will make you paranoid while shopping for toys, then by all means, read "Trouble in Toyland". If you're looking for a guide that's actually helpful and doesn't insult your intelligence, I recommend you look elsewhere than U.S. PIRG's mobile shopping guide.
Fortunately for parents, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released a safe shopping guide that's actually useful on Monday to make sure that anything you buy for your kids is safe.

You may have seen the media jump all over U.S. PIRG's press release yesterday when they formally unveiled their mobile shopping guide. Tech-related news seems to grab people's attention, right? Well, if anyone else in the media bothered to try the mobile site, they would have seen its not good for much. It gives useful guidelines for you to use in determining very broad categories of potentially dangerous toys, but a lot of the stuff listed in here is common sense. The biggest problem? It doesn't tell you much about specific toys. After U.S. PIRG's report,‚ "Trouble in Toyland", demonstrated how many toys have lead in them, they failed to make any kind of guide that actually helps parents know which toys to stay away from. Their mobile "app" as their press releases hyping the guide called it, lists only 16 dangerous toys. U.S. PIRG might insinuate that the Consumer Product Safety Commission needs to be improved while they talk on CNN, but at least the CPSC is publishing recalls on their website. Their website might not be as accessible as U.S. PIRG's mobile "app", but at least its useful. As I mentioned earlier, one safe shopping guide that seems to be a cut about the rest is Home Safe Home, a 93-page guide issued by the Illinois Attorney General's office on Monday. This lists all kinds of products(and not just toys) that have been recalled and pose a threat to consumers. According to the press release which unveiled the list of unsafe products, "This list covers everything from small appliances to clothing to SCUBA gear." It's probably not possible to keep track of every dangerous product on the market, and none of these toy lists can possibly be 100% comprehensive. Although some shopping guides may be more useful than others, all of them have some useful information that may not be covered by a different one. Even if you only print out excerpts from one of these guides, you should probably at least take a look at all of them. Your toddler deserves that much.