'Black Friday' Sites Abuzz With Shopping Day Deals

INDIANAPOLIS -- With "Black Friday" a week away, retailers are hedging their bets on how many shoppers will be out for what is traditionally one of the biggest retail days of the year.

The day after Thanksgiving has earned its reputation as a good day for shoppers to cash in on bargains, but blowout prices might be harder to come by this year at some retailers who appear to be less willing to aggressively mark down items because of their current economic health.

The electronics sector may take an especially hard hit this year. Leaked Black Friday ads from struggling electronics chain Circuit City and Best Buy, the nation's largest electronics retailer, are leaving many would-be shoppers cold.

Web sites, such as bfads.net, often get the scoop on Black Friday bargains well before they hit the newspaper on Thanksgiving Day.

Many regulars on that site, as well as blackfriday.gottadeal.com, said they don't plan to brave the cold at the electronics chains this year because the deals just aren't that good. Others said they think the leaked ads are decoys and that the stores' "real" ads will be a lot hotter.

Hoping to cash in on Circuit City's struggles, regional electronics chain HH Gregg is accepting Circuit City's gift cards through Nov. 25, good up to 20 percent of the total purchase price.

The leaked ads from toy and department store retailers are generally being better received.

Some deals were already apparent at central Indiana retailers Thursday, but there weren't very many people in the stores.

"Back there in the toys, I noticed they had lowered prices, but I didn't buy any toys yet because I want to look," said Cissa Smith.

Smith's wait-and-see attitude is part of what has retailers nervous about this shopping season. With the economic situation as bad or worse than it has been in more than a decade, stores hope consumers will still come in droves, but they aren't banking on it.

Target hopes to compete with the electronics giants by offering more TVs, video games and cameras. Similarly, Meijer -- which has already released its Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday door-buster bargains publicly -- hopes shoppers will hit their store first because of electronics deals.

"There is probably a little less money out there to spend, given the state of things," said Spencer Harris, Meijer store director. "We still are faring pretty well."

Retailers generally want to avoid having to make deep cuts this year. Some that have tried to bring shoppers in with loss leaders -- items that are priced at a point where the retailer loses money on them -- in hopes that consumers will also buy high-profit items, are reluctant to do that again this year because of economic conditions.

However, drastic cuts were already evident at some retailers. Macy's had a sweater on its racks that had been reduced from $110 to $24 after coupons and other in-store discounts.