Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: Black Friday Falls Short Of 2019, New COVID-19 Variant Raises Concern, Movie Theaters Score Over Hol

Elgin IL

30 November, 2021

2:31 AM

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Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce: November 29, 2021 By Richard Lawson CoStar News Black Friday Falls Short of 2019 Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, fell short of 2019 sales in terms of foot traffic in stores, according to firms tracking the data. Retail analytics company RetailNext reported on Sunday that traffic at brick-and-mortar stores was down 27% from 2019 levels. Average transaction value per shopper was 18% higher than 2019, which put overall sales at just 5% lower than two years ago. Sales were significantly higher than last year, with footwear leading at 86.1% and apparel following with 74.7% higher than a Black Friday 2020 that was muted by the pandemic. Sensormatic Solutions, another company that measures retail foot traffic, reported results in roughly the same ballpark as RetailNext, showing a 28.3% decline from 2019 but still much better than 2020. In one possible sign that shoppers ventured out, online sales fell to $8.9 billion on Black Friday from $9 billion last year, according to Adobe Inc., a software company known for Photoshop and PDFs that also does web analytics. Adobe said the decline is the first since it started tracking the data in 2012. Retailers have reported that holiday shopping started earlier this year because of concern over the supply chain challenges that either meant stores would run out of products or longer delivery times. New COVID-19 Variant Raises Concern Concern grew as a new coronavirus strain, dubbed omicron, spread over the weekend and more countries reported cases. Since first being identified in South Africa last Thursday, cases have been identified in England, Canada, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel, the Czech Republic and Hong Kong. Canada reported two cases in Ottawa on Sunday. The U.S.-Canada border fully opened Nov. 8 for vaccinated travelers, the same day the U.S. fully reopened to vaccinated international travelers. Questions arose over how well the current coronavirus vaccines, including the booster, are against the new variant. Moderna, one of the three coronavirus vaccine makers in the U.S., said it is testing a higher booster dose as well as studying a booster that anticipates mutations such as omicron. Pfizer, another of the major vaccine producers, is working on a new booster as well. Movie Theaters Score Over Holiday Disney's Encanto topped the box office for over the weekend as families hit theaters to see the animated film, delivering a good sign for theater landlords and nearby retail property that benefits from movie crowds. Viewers had to see the film in theaters, along with House of Gucci and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, because they weren't available for simultaneous streaming as had become the norm in theaters after the pandemic induced closings. Theater chains struggled during the pandemic, with AMC Theatres, the largest chain, getting an infusion of $917 million as its cash had run short before movie demand picked up. Encanto brought in $27 million to take its total to $40.3 million since hitting theaters Thanksgiving Day, according to data from Comscore. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the movie was the best start for an animated film during the pandemic. Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought in $24.5 million, increasing its total to $87.7 million, also a pandemic high for an adult drama film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. CNBC, citing Comsore data, reported that movie theaters pulled in $142 million over the five-day holiday, an indicator that moviegoers want to get out of the house. But there's still a long way to go to reach years in which theaters exceeded $250 million in ticket sales. Source: www.Costar.com This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author's own.