According to preliminary figures released Wednesday, the group projects 128 million shoppers will visit retail stores Friday, down slightly from 135 million last year. NRF believes the economic situation could be mitigated on Friday by special deals across the retail sector, as well as unusually low gas prices.
“Retailers realize that low prices will get consumers into stores this holiday season, and this could be the most heavily promotional Black Friday in history,” the group's president and CEO, Tracy Mullin, said as part of the announcement. “Shoppers who held off buying a DVD player or winter coat over the last few months will find that prices may literally be too good to pass up.”
NRF will release its annual Black Friday survey Sunday afternoon. For more information on that, visit www.nrf.com/holidays
