Those rushing to malls and stores early on Black Friday should expect bigger crowds than last year. Reuters reports that a study conducated by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs found 16% of people will begin shopping the day after Thanksgiving this year. That percentage is higher than any of the previous three holiday seasons.
Some 16 percent of respondents said they'd begin their holiday shopping the day after U.S. Thanksgiving this year, up from 10 percent in 2007 and 2008 and an earlier high of 13 percent in 2006, according to a holiday spending survey from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.
Reuters notes that the ICSC has been more bullish than other holiday shopping forecasters this year.
The ICSC has forecast holiday sales to rise about 1 percent to 2 percent this year in one of the more bullish predictions.
"ICSC Research thinks the holiday spending performance will be better than these pre-season consumer expectations, which is often the case following business cycle turning points in the economy," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's director of research and chief economist, in a statement.
The ICSC Research could be wrong. The economy has not turned around from a consumer's perspective. Layoffs are still increasing and salaries and bonuses have not increased. The stock market has climbed some since the beginning of the year which could make some consumers with larger portfolios less nervous about spending more this holiday season.
