An area economist predicts a profitable Black Friday for local retailers. 90.7 News Economic Analyst Hank Fishkind says Central Florida’s outlook for holiday shopping is even better than elsewhere in the country.
Fishkind predicts about 5 percent U.S. growth this shopping season – and notes that Central Florida is already outpacing the national average.
To capitalize on the fervor, Fishkind says, retailers are stretching Black Friday into surrounding days. "Merchants are trying to expand it to Black Thursday, Black Wednesday, Black Saturday, naturally, to increase sales," he says. "The outlook for retail sales is excellent, and so this is a good time to increase the range to Black Friday, Saturday and Sunday."
He adds that extra days might sound like a good idea, but they don't always mean extra profit. "Simply expanding the volume of sales doesn’t necessarily increase the total amount spent. The total amount spent is somewhat set on people’s budgets. Now, they can be induced to spend a little more but not a whole lot more," he says.
Fishkind says holiday sales are good for another reason too. When the state economy grows, he says, more people want to live here.
