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Stretch gift-giving dollars
For that reason, Croftcheck, who was shopping Tuesday morning at The Chalkboard, a McMurray specialty retailer that focuses on games and educational toys, won't be among the estimated 134 million Americans who will be hitting the stores today in search of holiday gift specials.
The former high school English teacher from Grindstone, Fayette County, was getting a jump on the crowds, purchasing some games for her children, ages 15, 7 and 5, with plans to stay away from today's retail extravaganza that marks the start of the holiday shopping season.
"I'm trying to keep the holidays peaceful," Croftcheck said. "I want to add some spirituality and meaning to our holidays. I'm hoping my children get meaning and not just a roomful of toys."
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Donna Kalchthaler of Eighty Four, who said she finished most of her holiday shopping in October, said she's been cutting back on her gift list for the past few years, devoting more of her holiday spending to her 5-year-old grandson.
While she enjoys decorating her home for the holidays and planning family get-togethers, Kalchthaler said she and her husband are diligent about paying off any credit card purchases immediately, and in tandem with current retail trends, they've tried to find gifts that are suitable for more than one family member.
Even the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, is projecting a 3.2 percent decline in holiday spending compared to 2008, with individual outlays for gifts, decorations, candy, food, cards and flowers dropping to an average of $682.74 from last year's expenditures of $705.10.
That's not to say that merchants aren't gearing up to meet the needs of customers, enticing them with Black Friday discounts and specials, earlier and longer store hours and some sales that began this week in advance of Black Friday on some items like toys.
The Tanger Outlet Center in South Strabane Township was one of the first area retailers to kick off Black Friday with a midnight opening of its 74 stores. A few hours later at 5 a.m., Washington Crown Center in North Franklin Township opened, with plans to offer numerous early specials, expecting to draw thousands of shoppers.
According to Crown Center General Manager Michael Joyce, this year's Black Friday opening is an hour earlier than last year. He noted that the mall's retailers are focusing on a variety of special sales and promotions with an emphasis on value. The mall is sponsoring a sweepstakes event that gives shoppers an opportunity to win a cash prize and is also offering a special on gift card purchases.
Tanger General Manager Frank Salucci, who inaugurated the center's first Midnight Madness a year ago, expected this year's event to be similar to the 2008 version, with the various stores offering changing specials as the early shopping hours progress.
Salucci said that while there were no problems with the crowd that filled Tanger's parking lots during last year's Black Friday, the center "will pay a little more attention to crowd control issues" this year. "We kind of know which stores get the longest lines," he said.
At least one local retailer will mark Black Friday with a view to the less fortunate.
Colleen Interval, co-owner of C&J Jewelry at 255 Jefferson Ave., Washington, said the store will give away 200 necklaces valued at $99 to people who have lost their jobs, are facing foreclosure or are experiencing similar types of financial difficulty.
"We're giving back," Interval said Wednesday, adding that people will have to produce a letter of foreclosure or prove that they are unemployed to receive a free necklace.
Interval said the idea came from a jeweler in another state.
"We've been in business for 25 years," she said, adding that she has recently purchased gold from people who told her they are using the proceeds to pay utility bills.
She said she doesn't expect any business increase from the act of charity.
"Business was off last year, and we think it will be off again this year," she said.
Dr. Audrey Guskey, associate professor of marketing at Duquesne University, who studies changing retail trends, said last week that the NRF's projection of a decline in spending marks a stark contrast from its traditional upbeat holiday projections and is acknowledgement of the lengthy recession.
"For the NRF to predict a decrease in holiday spending is shocking," she said, noting that holiday spending also declined by more than 3 percent between 2007 and 2008, as the national recession increased its grip.
Guskey said this year's holiday gift-giving is shaping up to be about practicality and functionality.
"You might be giving someone a sweater they can wear versus an upscale meal in a restaurant," she said, adding that past trends of giving the person "who has everything" a gift such as a trip to a resort spa or a golf outing are also disappearing as people tighten their belts. Instead, she said, more families may be purchasing "group gifts" designed to cover a greater number of people in an effort to save money.
Guskey said national surveys that report more shoppers intending to increase purchases of clothing for gifts is good news for apparel retailers who have seen their sales decline in previous holiday shopping seasons.
Consumer electronics purchases are also poised to see action, she said, since retailers are pricing items to move, from new cell phones to flat-screen television sets.
Despite the projected downturns in holiday spending, Guskey said Western Pennsylvania retailers may fare a bit better than their national counterparts "because we've always been more conservative about spending here."
That conservatism could bode well for places like The Chalkboard, where store manager Therese Dominick said games starting as low as $6.95 are attracting parents who are looking for items that all family members can enjoy.
One of those that Croftcheck was buying Tuesday was a $12.25 "Ruckus" card game for two to five players ages 5 to adult. Ruckus inventor Dan Levy, president of Chicago-based Funstreet Inc., said a big appeal of the game, which involves players winning points by attempting to steal matching sets from other players, is that each round lasts as little as four minutes.
"Games are great since people are starting to stay home more," Dominick said. "We're seeing that family game nights are starting to come back to the home again."
