Oxford News

The price may be right for consumers this Black Friday as retailers push heavy discounts, but analysts say it still may not be enough.

"Everything's taking a back seat to price. Retailers are very conscious of what consumers are going through," said Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.

But this year, Black Friday-like discounts were rolled out in early November by stores like Walmart, Kmart and Best Buy, in a bid to boost sales. It may have had the opposite effect, however, said Dan de Grandpre, founder and editor of dealnews.com, as some shoppers are already jaded by layoffs, a bad economy and too many "60 percent off" signs.

Overall, Black Friday sales are expected to increase only 1.2 percent compared to 8.3 percent last year, and holiday spending in general will decrease 2.8 percent, according to DO Seidman, LLP, an accounting and consulting firm.

At the Rex store in Middletown, manager Nick Deppen said Black Friday sales will be very important as the day is a gauge for how the shopping season will go.

"(Black Friday) is going to be our No. 1 sales volume day for the entire year," he said.

And it's been a tough year for the electronics store, which reported a net sales dip of 11.3 percent in the third quarter.

Deppen said that by comparison, Rex's sales will be "substantially better than years prior to get consumers worried about the economy to keep spending."

Target stores, which reported a 23.8 percent drop in earnings last quarter, will be offering more savings events in addition to Black Friday deals, said spokeswoman Jana O'Leary.

"The day after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest and most highly anticipated shopping days of the year, and to Target this is no exception," she said.

The retail store will post an electronic version of its ads on its Web site, which will include an additional 27 items not revealed in the print version. Also, some items will also be available for purchase online, though O'Leary said she did not know when the Web sale will begin.

One of only a few area retailers to remain relatively unscathed by the decrease in consumer confidence and spending is hhgregg, which reported a net sales increase of 11.3 percent last quarter. The electronics store has already released its Black Friday ads online.