Black Friday in Manhattan

This Black Friday I went to Bloomingdales, DKNY, Barney's, Bendel's and Bergdorfs.

Key points at Bloomingdales: Lots of people on the contemporary floor- looked like mostly self shopping. They had fabulous holiday dresses and tops and it seemed to be the bulk of interest. I went up to the sleepwear floor since sleepwear usually sells so well at Xmas- there was almost no one there. On the other hand- the bra sales rack were swarmed. No one was looking at regularly priced racks. In the windows- it was all Juicy Couture- a big push for that even throughout the store in multiple departments.

DKNY: Now this came as a surprise to me: They had a deal where it was buy 2 sale items get one for $1. Now note- everything was on sale and it all looked like early fall leftovers. All racks had the "buy 2 get one for $1 tag on them" with the $1 as the biggest attention grabber. It all looked pretty low budget and needless to say- it was difficult to find 2 things you wanted to buy in the firstplace.

Barney's: Their theme was "Have a Hippie Holiday". They had 60's music playing and has large peace signs throughout the store. Other than the windows and decor- I did not see much "peace and love"about the fashions- other than some psychadelic color- playing into this theme.

Bergdorf's-Bergdorfs definitely gets first prize again this year for their AMAZING window. Every window was all white and silver and had a "Winter Wonderland" feeling. Absolutely beautiful. Then inside the first floor as decorated with white boughs and silver pinecones- very luxe but homey too. It definitely gets you into the gift giving mood.

Bendels: Has an "Arabian Nights" theme on their main floor. They had life size ostriches dripped in jewels on all main tables. All about color and luxury. Merchandise was bejewelled and full of glitz and skins to play into the theme. Very fun.

Overall- not as many shoppers as I would have expected. 5th avenue was full of shoppers compared to other areas but people were not carrying many bags this year- On average only 1 if they had on at all.

I think with everyone being so cautious this year people are waiting later to buy because then it will feel more like a "necessity" because of the deadline. Seems that shoppers will justify a good sale item for themselves anytime.

Overall themes in trend were very schizophrenic from store to store. Could be a case of throwing anything against the wall to see what sticks in uncertain times but very different tastes are definitely being targeted between these store that normally have a lot of cross shopping.