Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290098
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Charlotte, N.C., company and parent of Roanoke-based First Union National Bank of Virginia, said Monday that Thanksgiving weekend retailing posted new records for both the number of credit card transactions in a day and the dollar volume of those purchases. First Union spokesman David Scanzoni declined to give the actual numbers for either indicator.
Other statistical indicators also suggested the holiday shopping season got off to a fast start:
nTeleCheck Services Inc., a Houston check authorization service, said its retail index rose 5.7 percent on the day after Thanksgiving compared with the same day a year ago. And among its Virginia merchants polled, the increase was by 7.1 percent.
TeleCheck's index is based on the dollar volume of checks written by consumers to pay for goods at about 10,000 of the 115,000 merchants that subscribe to its service.
"Cooler weather across much of the country ... helped get shoppers into the Christmas spirit," said William Ford, TeleCheck's economic adviser. "Although we should be careful not to emphasize one day's results, the first day's numbers do fall within the 5 to 7 percent range we have been forecasting."
The service said check-writing customers account for 37 percent of retail spending compared to 13 percent for credit and debit cards. The remainder is primarily cash.
MasterCard International Inc., New York credit card payments operator, said its U.S. unit electronically authorized $726.6 million in sales on Friday alone, up 36.2 percent from a year ago.
That included an 18.2 percent increase in charges at department stores, 7.1 percent gain at mail order merchants, 7.2 percent gain at electronics stores and 79.4 percent gain at discount stores and specialty merchants.
Although they declined to release figures, a few Roanoke merchants said they experienced a very good holiday weekend.
"It was good," said Philip Boggs, manager of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. at Tanglewood Mall. Sales were better than last year, he said, and last year was a very good season. Friday was the best day, he said.
"It was great," said Larry Drombetta, spokesman for Roanoke-based Heironimus stores. Friday, Saturday and all of last week were excellent for retailing, he said.
"Things are wonderful - absolutely," reported Tom Tyree, manager of Leggett Department Store at Valley View Mall. "We're real excited about this season."
Nationally, retailers said business was better than expected Friday and Saturday, with shoppers looking for frills even as they searched for value. The weekend's strong results, which indicated consumers are more relaxed this year about spending freely for Christmas, augured well for the rest of the season.
Kmart Corp., which has been flat on its back for more than two years, reported that its sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, the first weekend of Christmas shopping, rose more than 10 percent.
Experts said that if Kmart did 10 percent better than a year ago, Wal-Mart, Target and the nation's other discounters did even better. Adding fuel to the euphoria was a report that specialty stores in the nation's shopping malls said their sales rose more than 9 percent Friday and 4.5 percent for the weekend.``We're looking at a better Christmas than I expected,'' said Sidney Doolittle, a partner in the Chicago retail consulting firm McMillan/Doolittle.
Most experts had predicted Christmas sales would increase 5 percent to 6 percent this year. But it appears those estimates may be too conservative.
The Chicago Tribune contributed to this story.
by CNB