Oh my God, it's Black Friday.

Today's makeover was for a long-time client who has a new job and needed some sprucing up to fit in and feel good going to work. She's contracting in the fashion industry now, and decided that she needed to start treating her look as an investment in her business. Despite things being tight she set a budget and gave me a call. We decided that we needed some figure-flattering items that could be mixed and matched with the right accessories to send a message that was polished, fun, and contemporary. So we decided to do it right and get our money's worth, and set a date to hit up SF's Union Square on, you guessed it, Black Friday.

Despite some trepidation I was game, having never really experienced Black Friday in all its glory, and also curious about how retail was going to respond to the recession at the launching of the all-important 2010 Holiday season. I'd heard reports that retail's expected to rise 2.3% this year, which is pretty huge from what I understand. With all the discounts retail's been offering since the beginning of the recession, they'd probably have to sell twice as much as they used to to even begin to recoup their losses, but the hope is there that perhaps consumer spending will rebound and give the economy a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. From what I saw today, it very well might.

We started at Macy's, where we miraculously got and held a fitting room immediately and for a couple of hours. There were racks of previously discounted things being offered at 65% off, with a further discount of 40% on top of that, and then a cardmember discount of 15% off that. To compound the savings, if you opened a Macy's card you'd get an additional 15% off. Macy's smartly had scanners everywhere, so finding out how the discounts computed became a fun little game for us. We left the dressing room having blown the budget, but still needing some additional items. My client made an executive decision to go for it, and we headed out for lingerie and shoes. It took us 10 minutes of single file crowd maneuvering to make it to our next stop, with me shouting out directions and following as best I could through the throngs. We passed (and passed up on) Old Navy, where I found out later there were 2 hour lines just to get into a fitting room. When we finally arrived at Aerosoles the nice folks were amazing and friendly, despite it now being the later end of the third quarter of a freakishly long Black Friday (some stores opened at midnight to fully maximize the profiteering. I'm so glad I wasn't one of those shopfolk.) We picked up boots in record time, and headed for Bloomie's. Madness reigned supreme, but the bargains were few and far between. I saw no new sales nor discounts upon discounts, which was surprising as Bloomie's is my usual source for upscale items at a bargain. We whipped through cosmetics and made it to cashmere before my client began to feel faint, and we finally wrapped up with a couple of decent scores to round out the wardrobe.

All in all, I'm exhausted, but I'm glad I checked it out. I think the word tomorrow will be good, and we'll start to see things turning around for the economy this year. They do say that retail is a bellweather--if people have money to spend they like to shop, and now's the time of year to do it. Black Friday bargains may only last the weekend, but those discounts are still out there. And don't forget to call us tomorrow--Small Business Saturday! We're offering 10% off all Gift Certificates to our Facebook friends and followers to say thanks :)

happy Holiday, folks!

http://www.detnews.com/article/20101127/BIZ/11270342/1001/Black-Friday-sales-stoke-hope

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