Via WaPo: Holiday Shoppers Off to a Fast Start

Holiday shoppers spent 10 percent more Friday than they did a year ago, according to early reports, but Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dampened hopes for a strong start to the key retail season by slashing its November sales forecast by more than half.

Consumers spent about $8 billion at the nation’s malls and stores the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, compared with $7.3 billion a year ago, according to the industry research firm ShopperTrak.

Sounds pretty good to me. Indeed, the gloomy coverage all seems based solely on Wal*Mart.

The funny thing is that the last several years the record spending at discount stores like Wal*Mart have been seen as confirming weakness in the economy because it showed how people aren’t able to shop at more expensive stores.

Regardless, I am alwasy fascinated and often annoyed at the way the holiday shopping season is covered. Not only is there the ongoing attempt at reading the tea leaves but also the fact that usually the issue is one of expectations, rather than making cold, hard comparisons with year’s past.