by Calculated Risk on 11/30/2008 11:37:00 AM

From MarketWatch: Black Friday sales chalk up 3% gain from last year

Strong discounts brought U.S. consumers to the stores on "Black Friday" ... with estimated sales rising 3% from last year, according to industry analyst ShopperTrak RCT Corp.
...
"While this is an encouraging start for retailers, there's no guarantee these deep discounts will continue after Black Friday weekend, which could slow spending," said Bill Martin, co-founder of privately-held ShopperTrak.

"Additionally, consumers have just 27 days to shop this year as opposed to 32 in 2007, which may catch some procrastinating consumers off guard, leading to lower sales levels," he said.

Key points:

Although sales were up slightly, this was due to some heavy discounting (that might not continue).

this will be a short shopping season.