Holiday shopping season officially underway

Friday, November 23, 2007

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The International Plaza in Tampa opened early on Black Friday and shoppers came in numbers.

(Bay News 9) -- Faced with gloomy economic forecasts retailers are taking advantage of the season with extended mall and store hours.

As Black Friday wraps up, there's a mixed bag of news for retailers. How retail sales will look this holiday season all depends on who you talk to.

Powerhouse retailers like Best Buy and Wal-mart started holiday sales three weeks ago. That will likely have some kind of impact on sales on Black Friday.

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University of South Florida (USF) Professor of Marketing and Logistics James Stock said although Black Friday has lost a lot of its financial luster over the years retail sales will still be strong.

"They're trying to spread the sales out over a longer period of time," Stock said. "So what we will probably see is the sales distributed over most of November and December, as opposed to just December concentrated between Thanksgiving and Christmas time."

The International Plaza in Tampa opened early on Black Friday and shoppers came in numbers.

Every person here is looking for something different and every person won't be spending the same thing.

"I'm in school so I am looking to spend less, just the budget," said holiday shopper Nicole Thomas.

"Probably spend a little more than last year," said holiday Shopper Michael Newton. "But I don't really have a set amount."

Shopping Frenzy Begins

Some shoppers got an early start as several stores opened up in the overnight hours.

(Bay News 9) -- Traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, millions of Americans are descending upon malls and stores today.

According to consumer reports, 25 percent of Americans are expected to hit stores today. That is up four percent from last year.

And as shoppers around the country and here in the Tampa Bay area go out on Black Friday, officials say they have specific items in mind: Electronics, toys, clothing and gift cards.

Holiday Shoppers Frenzy

Stores around the nation got it rolling with midnight openings and a blitz of door-buster deals, hoping to overcome a challenging economy that's prompted customers to look more and buy less. To meet sales goals, merchants will have to get them in the stores and keep them coming back.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, says it's offering specials on TVs and digital cameras. Toys "R" Us says it's got 101 door busters on items ranging from Barbie styling sets to Hasbro's FurReal interactive jungle cat.

And J.C. Penny is touting 50-percent-off sales on toys and board games, plus a $799 leather massage recliner for a tad under 300 bucks, including mail-in rebate.

Officials warn of identity theft

Officials are asking shoppers to be aware of the dangers of identity theft during the holiday shopping season.

But amid the shopping frenzy, authorities are asking consumers to be careful with their debit cards.

Tampa-based FBI Special Agent Kevin Klim said anytime someone uses a debit card, they run the risk of having their identity stolen. That's mainly because those cards require a pin number being typed in.

And with the help of some software and a laptop, that pin can be stolen.

"We have found instances where the scanner device will have an additional cord of wire, usually a USB wire, to a laptop under the counter that's recording data," Klim said.

Criminals with skimming machines can quickly record information and use it later.

More on Black Friday

"They take it, scan it very quickly,' Klim said. "They have just read, and most importantly, recorded the data on the back of my credit card."

That information often is copied and sold.

Tracking and stopping this kind of theft can be difficult because of the speed of which it occurs. It can take as little as 24 hours for thieves to drain a bank account, often before a consumer even knows their information has been stolen.

"If you put your debit card in and all the sudden you find out that certain transactions are not available, I would stop the transaction right there, get your card out, you may want to consider calling law enforcement,' Klim said. "You definitely want to call your bank."

Learn more about Black Friday and places to shop for bargains on Tampa Bay on Demand, channel 340 on Bright House Networks digital cable.