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On the heels of what should have been the busiest shopping days of the year, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007.
Two other reports provided a bleak snapshot of the depth of the economic slump. The Commerce Department reported Monday that construction spending fell by a larger-than-expected 1.2 percent in October, while the Institute for Supply Management said its gauge of manufacturing activity dropped to a 26-year low in November. And on the heels of all that news, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped another 680 points on Monday. Recent layoffs in the New River Valley along with constant news of the struggling national economy were indicators that this holiday season might see slower-than-usual holiday sales, and most consumers in the area seem to be more conservative this year. “I went to Barnes & Noble [on Black Friday] and it was less busy than your average Friday night,” said Radford resident Candice Benjes-Small. “For the sake of retailers, I hope that's a reflection of people being out of town, not an indication of sales for the season.” Jon Stauff also hit Barnes & Noble on Friday and said he had his choice of tables at which to drink coffee. He also said he priced some clothing items at Belk but wanted to check prices at the locally-owned Garrett’s in Radford before making a decision. Stauff said that he prefers to shop local businesses but the price differential could force him back to the mall. Stacey Price, owner of Encore Artful Gifts in downtown Radford, said she offered her first Black Friday discounts this year. She said shopping on Friday was steady but not on par with recent years. “The [entire] weekend remained the same, steady but down,” Price said. “I believe that we may get a surge in December but overall I find shoppers to be cautious and very planned in their shopping this year. I think the economy and the fear of impulse shopping will play a factor in shopping but at the end of the day, or the month, people will still shop.”For those who did partake in Black Friday shopping, they may have picked a good year to do so. In addition to good deals, crowds seemed manageable for the most part. Radford resident Elizabeth Koch said that she went to just one store and that was Wal-Mart for a particular sale item. “The crowd wasn’t that bad there,” Koch said after arriving at about 6 a.m. Likewise, Barbara Cumbee found the crowds bearable. “I got up at 3:30 [on Friday] and hit the stores at 5,” Cumbee said. “This is the first time I have ever shopped on Black Friday because I don't like crowds.” But Cumbee said she found the crowds reasonable on her shopping excursion in which she visited Belk, JCPenny, Sears, B. Moss, Dicks, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, and Kmart in Christiansburg, and then went to Pulaski and visited Magic Mart. Floyd County resident Jenny Slaughter said she isn’t interested in Black Friday deals. “I'm not any more interested in buying an electric nose-hair trimmer or digital photo frame or any other hip new thing at 5 a.m. than I am at a more civilized hour of the day,” Slaughter said. “Regardless of discounts, if you don't want it in the first place, buying it isn't ‘savings.’”
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