By Matt Roy
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

Neither cold, nor rain, nor three tornadoes would deter Valley shoppers on Black Friday last week, launching what local retailers and national experts predict will be another record holiday sales season.

Jason Feinberg, owner of Sher’s — a specialty women’s clothing store with locations in Surprise and Sun City — said he’d thought predictions for inclement weather would dampen sales volume on Friday.

But he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout, he said.

“We were open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and we were just slammed all day. We had probably the best day of the year. It was unbelievable,” Mr. Feinberg cheered. “And it was raining, but they were coming out of the woodwork. It was ice cold and even some of the roads were closed. And we were jamming. It was the best Black Friday that we’ve ever had.”

Sales were brisk the next day as well (touted nationally as Small Business Saturday), which is a good sign for the economy, he said.

“I think the economy is just doing great. I think that consumer confidence is really high right now,” Mr. Feinberg said. “It was jamming again on Saturday. It wasn’t as busy as Friday, but we were close.”

Rachel Malloy, owner of Bunky Boutique in downtown Phoenix, echoed Mr. Feinberg’s optimism in the wake of the Black Friday weekend turnout.

“We have such loyal customers that are excited to shop local, so our volume over the holiday weekend is best for us on Small Business Saturday,” Ms. Malloy stated. “It was steady all day and customers definitely had a list of their favorite spots that they wanted to make sure to support.”

Sales traffic seemed to boom at area malls as well, according to Laura Crossman, marketing manager for Macerich, which manages shopping centers in Arrowhead, Biltmore, Chandler, Desert Sky, Kierland, Paradise Valley, San Tan Valley, Scottsdale and Superstition Springs.

Though official numbers were not yet available to cite, Ms. Crossman said her properties were busy on Black Friday and over the weekend.

“Overall, we were happy to see our shoppers were out in force preparing for the holiday season. It was a busy weekend,” she said.

The local trend seems to have played out across the country, according to the National Retail Federation, an industry association and advocate (learn more at nrf.com).

“Americans continue to start their holiday shopping earlier in the year, and Thanksgiving is still a critical weekend for millions,” stated NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in an online press release. “Whether they’re looking for something unique on Main Street, making a trip to the store or searching for the best deals from their mobile device, this is when shoppers shift into high gear.”

By luck of the calendar, this year’s holiday retail season is the shortest possible, with six fewer shopping days compared to last year. This may have contributed to the early-shopping trend, according to Mr. Shay.

“With the condensed holiday season, consumers are feeling the pressure to get their shopping done in time. Even those who typically wait until the last minute to purchase gifts turned out in record numbers all weekend long,” he stated.

The association reported this year’s Black Friday weekend — which ran from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — saw the greatest retail volume ever, with 189.6 million shoppers and an increase of 14% over last year.

The average shopper spent $361.90 over the five-day run, up 16% percent from last season. The biggest spenders were those in the 25-34 age group with an average $440.46 spent; they were followed closely by those 35-44, who spent $439.71 on average.

Based on a survey of 6,746 adults from last Wednesday through Monday, NRF predicts a banner year for both in-store and online shopping.

“The survey found that 124 million people shopped in stores while 142.2 million shopped on retailers’ websites; demonstrating today’s seamless shopping world, 75.7 million did both,” the NRF report states. “Consumers who shopped in both channels spent an average $366.79, spending at least 25 percent more than those who shopped in only one or the other.”

Software giant Adobe tracks online shopping and provides minute-by-minute updates through its Adobe Analytics service. Their data reveals strong and growing demand for e-commerce this season.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, Adobe reported large year-over-year gains with $2.9 billion in online sales on Wednesday (up 22% over 2018); $4.2 billion on Thanksgiving (up 14.5%); $7.4 billion on Friday (up 19.6%); $3.6 billion on Saturday (up 18%); and a record-setting $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday (up 19.7%).

The top 5 most-popular Cyber Monday buys were L.O.L. Surprise Dolls, Frozen 2 toys, Nintendo Switch, VR devices and Samsung TVs.

The most popular way to shop online this year was through desktop computers with $48.4 billion in sales for 60.4% of the market.

Smartphone users spent $29 billion for 34.5% of the pie with tablets coming in last with $4.1 billion for a 5.1% share.