Black Friday Canon Deal

[Matt Molnar]

Heads up to anyone looking for a camera for themselves or for a gift... Circuit City is going to be selling the Rebel XTi w/lens for $799.99 on Friday.

This site has a rundown of a bunch of national chains' Friday deals:
http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com

[Matt Molnar]

Here's a SLR list while I'm doing nothing at work...

Circuit City:
Canon Rebel XTi w/18-55 lens: $799.99 (currently $899)
Olympus EVOLT E-500 w/14-45 and 40-150 lenses: $699.99 (currently $799)
Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 body only: $799 (currently $799 anyway, but list is $899)

CompUSA:
Sony Alpha DSLR-A100K w/18-70 lens and free 1GB card: $899

[moose135]

They would have to be giving them away for free before I would go shopping on Friday :shock:

[Matt Molnar]

Good point. There are a couple of deals on miscellaneous things that have tempted me, but I'm not planning on setting foot in a store between now and Christmas.

[T-Bird76]

They would have to be giving them away for free before I would go shopping on Friday :shock:

My thoughts exactly! This year is an absolute disgrace! Stores opening midnight on Black Friday, God these retailers aren't even giving their people time to spend with their family. Radio stations out here on L.I have been playing Christmas music since last week. GIVE ME A F#$KING BREAK! I'm generally not like this but this year I'm going to be very careful who I shop with. I don't want to give a cent of my money to some of these retailers.

[Matt Molnar]

This year is an absolute disgrace! Stores opening midnight on Black Friday, God these retailers aren't even giving their people time to spend with their family.

CompUSA seems to be the most blatant example of this. They had a 9pm-midnight sale on THANKSGIVING NIGHT, then they open again at 5am Friday morning. Granted, they have some pretty good offers, but consumers need to stop patronizing **** like this. Along with Independence Day, Thanksgiving is the most important of American holidays. We can't let it be tainted by greedy retailers.

[nwafan20]

I randomly went to Best Buy today, not meaning to shop or anything, it was just there. We went at about 4:00 EST and it was PACKED!! I thought I would take a look at what they were charging for the XTi, but I couldn't even get close to the case, let alone anything else in the store!

[Matt Molnar]

In the circular they had the XTi for a few bucks less than Circuit City.

[Mellyrose]

Black Friday sales up 6 percent from '05

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writer 20 minutes ago

NEW YORK - The nation's retailers had a strong start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at mall-based stores. One big exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which said it expects to report same-store sales in November below its already lackluster forecast.

According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 45,000 mall-based retail outlets, total sales rose 6 percent to $8.96 billion on Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season, compared to the same day a year ago.

"Although we anticipated a solid consumer turnout for Black Friday, this data shows an even larger increase than expected as consumers proved they were willing to spend," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, in a statement.

Wal-Mart, however, estimated it will post a 0.1 percent decline in same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, in November. That's slightly below its original projections for flat sales for the month, compared to the year-ago period. The results cover the four-week period that ended through Friday. Same-store sales are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

J.C. Penney Co. said in a separate statement released Saturday that the holiday shopping season was "off to a good start."

"We have seen brisk traffic in our stores, and our 'redbox gifts' selection is being well-received by customers," Penney said, referring to its holiday must-have items. It said that home entertainment, fashion jewelry, children's apparel, housewares, holiday decorations and women's shoes were among the most popular items Friday.

Wal-Mart and other major retailers are expected to report final same-store results for November on Thursday.

Wal-Mart's disappointing performance in November is the latest in a string of anemic sales gains for the discount store, which is struggling to expand its appeal to higher-income shoppers. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Wal-Mart has averaged a meager 2.4 percent gain in same-store sales for the February-October period. That compares with a same-store sales 4.8 percent gain for discount rival Target Corp. Penney has averaged a 4.5 percent gain in same-store sales for the February-October period.

Wal-Mart, which had downplayed its emphasis on discounting, or what it calls rollbacks, stepped up its campaign in mid-October, with price reductions on over 100 toys. The move was followed by price cuts on consumer electronics and small appliances earlier this month.

While Black Friday — so named because it was traditionally when the surge of shopping made stores profitable — starts holiday shopping, it is not considered a bellwether for the season. However, merchants see Black Friday as setting an important tone to the overall season: what consumers see that day influences where they will shop for the rest of the year.