Time to tackle the Christmas list

Under the shadow of a historic economic slowdown, shoppers turned out in throngs for Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.

Circuit City, the locally based electronics retailer that declared bankruptcy this month, appeared to be a beneficiary, with exceptionally large crowds at several Richmond-area locations.

While the crowds were there, the more important question of how much they were buying remains unclear.

Preliminary reports from major retailers such as Macy's, KB Toys Inc., Best Buy Co. and Toys "R" Us, and mall operators said crowds nationwide were at least as large as last year's.

But retail analysts said sales may not match year-ago levels as Americans, worried about layoffs, dwindling retirement accounts and foreboding economic news, slash their holiday budgets, even for their children.

"I told my [two kids] that things are tough and I'm probably not going to do as much shopping as I usually do," said Donna Chambers of Varina after shopping at the new Target at The Shops at White Oak Village.

"I'm done here. I got what I needed and now I'm headed to Wal-Mart," she said. "And that's it. No more shopping."

While early morning traffic was brisk at many stores, by afternoon the crowds began to thin out at some shopping centers.

Some of the busiest stores belonged to Circuit City, which opened at 5 a.m.

The Henrico County-based chain is struggling for survival, and how it performs during this holiday sales season is critical.

At the Circuit City off Huguenot Road in Chesterfield County at 6:30 a.m., customers jostled for parking spots and waited in long lines at cash registers.

The scene was similar later in the morning at the chain's concept store, The City, on West Broad Street.

Manager Jamekeya Myles said about 30 people were standing in line before the store opened at 5 a.m., a smaller crowd than previous years, but about 250 people came into the store in the first several minutes after opening.

The store remained busy throughout the morning and sales were brisk, she said.

At the Circuit City at the Creeks at Virginia Center on U.S. 1, shopper Maria Snead said she shopped at Circuit City because she felt loyal to the company. But her patronage was not based solely on loyalty.

"Their price was better on some of the items I wanted," she said. She bought a digital camera for her daughter and several DVDs for grandchildren. "But if I had found better prices elsewhere, that's where I would have gone.

Snead said she was spending about half of what she usually spends.

At the Wal-Mart on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield before dawn, the store was busy with hundreds of shoppers. But there were plenty of parking spaces in the lot, lines were thin at the registers and stacks of low-priced doorbusters advertised to draw crowds sat unsold in the aisles.

At Circuit City competitor Best Buy off Huguenot Road in Chesterfield, the parking lot was half full; inside shoppers walked around thinly populated aisles and breezed through cash registers.

New to the Richmond area is Bass Pro Shops, an outdoor gear retailer alongside Interstate 95 in Hanover County. Nearly 200 people camped there overnight and about 1,200 people were waiting in line when the store opened at 6 a.m., general manager Greg Bulkley said.

"We've seen a steady stream of customers all day long and sales have been strong," he said.

In Roanoke, Valley View Mall, home to JCPenney, Belk and Macy's department stores, was at "max capacity" by 9 a.m., mall marketing manager Ashley Likens said.

"The parking lots were full and the stores were crowded -- it was a great day," said Likens, who added that the crowds weren't just looking, they were buying.

It will be several days before companies begin to report sales figures.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .

Staff writer Rex Bowman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.