'A lot quieter' Black Friday brings out discount hunters

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What are Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Boxing Day and Cyber Monday sales With many consumers squeezed by persistent inflation and high interest rates, U.S. holiday spending is expected to rise at the slowest pace in five years. Most major retailers slashed their seasonal hiring.

Retailers will likely continue to discount throughout the season to avoid inventory gluts at yearend. Caution from shoppers -- coupled with a strong quarterly performance from discount retailers like Target and Ross Stores -- show lingering concern over inflation and a higher cost of living even as fears of a recession recede. “People are more value conscious," said Barbara Kahn, a professor at The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

“People are spending, but they’re spending more conservatively." A record 130.7 million people are expected to shop in stores and online in the U.S. on Black Friday this year, the National Retail Federation estimates. But at 6 a.m.

on Friday at a Walmart in New Milford, Connecticut, the parking lot was only half full. Also Read | Black Friday 2023: 5 ways to navigate the temptation trap and avoid impulsive spending "It's a lot quieter this year, a lot quieter," said shopper Theresa Forsberg, who visits the same five stores with her family at dawn every Black Friday. She was at a nearby Kohl's store at 5 a.m.

In Paramus, New Jersey, crowds at the Garden State Plaza mall were thinner than prior years, according to Michael Brown, a partner at consulting firm Kearney, who has checked shopping activity for the past 35 years. "It wasn't the good, old-fashioned kick-the-doors-down-type" shopping event this year, he said. Mall goers “were carrying a bag or two, not the armfuls that you would see in