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Black Friday shopping gets underway, as inflation lingers
Analysts consider Black Friday and Cyber Monday key barometers of shoppers’ willingness to spend, particularly this year.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Black Friday marks a return to familiar holiday shopping patterns across the country, including the Mall of America, where shoppers were lined up outside ahead of the mall’s scheduled 7 a.m. opening.
“We are trying to beat the rush, enjoy some of the deals, spend time as a family. So we ate turkey dinner early… and then we’re here,” said one shopper, who waited in line for nearly 12 hours for MOA’s opening.
The Mall of America expects thousands of shoppers to take advantage of Black Friday deals.
“We call Black Friday our ‘Super Bowl’ for people here at Mall of America,” said Laura Utecht, the Director of Communications at Mall of America. “A lot of prep goes into it, but we’re lucky to have incredible teams here to get everything ready so these lines of people can get through the door and have an incredible experience and really get back in those holiday traditions we had pre-COVID, get back into normalcy.”
However, inflation is also weighing on consumers this Black Friday.
Elevated prices for food, rent, gasoline and other household costs have taken a toll on shoppers. As a result, many are reluctant to spend unless there is a big sale and are being more selective with what they will buy — in many cases, trading down to cheaper stuff and less expensive stores.
Shoppers are also dipping more into their savings, turning increasingly to “buy now, pay later” services like Afterpay that allow users to pay for items in installments, as well as running up their credit cards at a time when the Federal Reserve is hiking rates to cool the U.S. economy.
Such financial hardships could help drive shoppers to look for bargains.
Isela Dalencia, who was shopping for household essentials like detergent at a Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, earlier this week, said she’s delaying buying holiday gifts until Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — when online sales rev up. Then, she will wait again until the week before Christmas to get the best deals, unlike last year when she started buying before Black Friday.
“I am shopping less,” Dalencia said, noting she will spend about $700 for holiday gifts this year, one-third less than last year.
Katie Leach, a social worker in Manhattan, was also browsing the aisles at Walmart but said she will start holiday shopping during the first week of December as usual. This time, however, she’ll be relying more on bargains, her credit card and “buy now, pay later” services to get her through the shopping season because of surging prices on food and other household expenses.
“The money is not going as far as last year,” Leach said.
This year’s trends are a contrast from a year ago when consumers were buying early out of fear of not getting what they needed amid clogs in the supply network. Stores didn’t have to discount much because they were struggling to bring in items.
But some pandemic habits are sticking around. Many retailers that closed stores on Thanksgiving Day and instead pushed discounts on their websites to thin out crowds at stores are still holding onto those strategies, despite a return to normalcy.
Major retailers including Walmart and Target again closed their stores on Thanksgiving. And many moved away from doorbusters, the deeply marked down items offered for a limited time that drew crowds. Instead, the discounted items are available throughout the month, on Black Friday or the holiday weekend.
Against today’s economic backdrop, the National Retail Federation — the largest retail trade group — expects holiday sales growth will slow to a range of 6% to 8%, from the blistering 13.5% growth of a year ago. However, these figures, which include online spending, aren’t adjusted for inflation so real spending could even be down from a year ago.
Adobe Analytics expects online sales to be up 2.5% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, a slowdown from last year’s 8.6% pace when shoppers were uncertain about returning to physical stores.
Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend, which includes Cyber Monday, a key barometer of shoppers’ willingness to spend, particularly this year. The two-month period between Thanksgiving and Christmas represents about 20% of the retail industry’s annual sales.
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Most agree that pharmacy benefit managers entered the market in the 1980s as Americans started using more drugs than ever before.
MINNEAPOLIS — Editor’s Note: The above video was first published on 6/7/2024.
As the election draws nearer both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — the Republican and Democratic nominees for president, respectively — are speaking up about their respective plans for making health care more affordable for Americans.
Vice President Harris has specifically named PBMs or Pharmacy Benefit Managers as a target for more oversight and transparency and Trump issued an executive order calling out PBMs back in 2020.
PBMs primarily run prescription drug coverage for insurers, large employers and other clients. They also set up formularies, or lists of covered drugs, and negotiate rebates off drug prices.
Most agree that pharmacy benefit managers entered the market in the 1980s as Americans started using more drugs than ever before. The presence of the PBMs initially let pharmacists focus more on their businesses by handling backend tasks and saved insurers money through bargaining with drug manufacturers.
The heightened scrutiny comes as the Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit against the three largest PBMs in the country, Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx. Those three companies process roughly 80% of prescriptions nationwide, according to the FTC.
The FTC said the rebating practices of the three companies have led to artificially inflated list prices for people. List prices are what a drugmaker initially sets for a product and what people who have high deductible plans or no insurance are sometimes stuck paying for prescriptions.
Harris’ campaign promises that, if elected, Harris “will increase competition and demand transparency in the health care industry, starting by cracking down on pharmaceutical companies who block competition and abusive practices by pharmaceutical middlemen who squeeze small pharmacies’ profits and raise costs for consumers.”
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which lobbies for PBMs nationwide has long argued that their work is imperative in saving consumers money on drugs.
“PBMs support transparency that empowers prescribers, plan sponsors, policymakers, and, most importantly, patients, with the information they need to lower costs while improving access to needed medications. What we don’t support are measures that would empower drug companies to raise costs.” Greg Lopes, vice president of public affairs., for the PCMA.
Lawyers are preparing opening statements in the trial of Adam Fravel, who is accused of killing the mother of his children, Madaline Kingsbury.
MANKATO, Minn. — After a week and a half of selection, jurors have been chosen for the trial of Adam Fravel, and opening statements could potentially begin this week.
Fravel is accused of killing his longtime partner and mother of his children, Madeline Kingsbury.
While the alleged murder took place in Winona County, the trial will unfold in Mankato, the seat of Blue Earth County. A judge supported a defense motion to change the venue for the trial, saying it would be difficult to select an impartial jury in Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
Kingsbury went missing on March 31, 2023. Authorities say she was last seen dropping her kids off at daycare. For weeks, a massive search effort was conducted, with hundreds helping in the search. Her remains were found on June 7 in a remote location close to where Fravel admitted to being on the day she disappeared.
Fravel was the last known person to see her. He said he had nothing to do with her disappearance and fought for custody of the children while Kingsbury was missing.
Fravel is charged with two counts of first-degree murder – one for murder while committing domestic abuse and one for premeditated murder – along with two additional counts of second-degree murder.
The jury consists of 12 jurors and five alternates. A court spokesperson told KARE 11 they seated 11 men and six women, with opening statements starting this Thursday morning at the earliest.
Financial advisor Ayo Idowu visited KARE 11 News at Noon to talk about an emergency nest egg and how much you should consider putting away.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — It’s no secret that Americans are increasingly challenged when it comes to making financial ends meet. With the rising cost of food, housing and other necessities – combined with the impact of inflation – many are living from paycheck to paycheck, without a cushion if something were to happen.
According to financial planner Ayo Idowu, that underlines the importance of establishing an emergency fund. Just how much that is depends on whether you are single with few financial responsibilities, or someone with a family, kids, a mortgage and car payment.
- Those who are younger with fewer responsibilities should aim for having enough to cover three months of living expenses (not income)
- Folks with homes, cars, kids and other obligations should shoot for an emergency fund that can cover six months of living expenses
If you’re wondering where to find money to fill that fund, Idowu suggests being creative. He is currently in the midst of an “October Fast” with fewer social outings, eating at home instead of out, putting travel on hold and putting all the money saved into his emergency fund.
If you have questions, check out Ayo Idowu’s web page at Integrate Wealth Management.
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