Cautious Optimism Fuels Black Friday Shopping this Year

What I saw at Macy's. It's a different type of Black Friday than it was in the past. The reason why crowds and traffic, the buzz doesn't kick up until later in the day.

And that's for a lot of retailers. Macy's opens at 6 a.m., but others open later. What did I see at Macy's that was different?

40% newness. La Boo-Boo is the hottest thing out there. Still hot.

Still hot. There's a Pop Mart in-store shop at Macy's. The other things that are new and different at Macy's.

Different brands also, whether it's cosmetics brands, they have a bunch of new cosmetics brands that are different, whether it's also the engagement with new brand, newer brands like the Donna Karan's of the World that are there, Rag and Bone that's there. It's been exciting to see the formation of it, but it's always promotional and all the tracking we've done. We're not seeing a much different link between the level of promotions this year versus last year so far.

So, I mean, retail analysts like Dana tells me this is arguably the most important day of the year, Super Bowl of the year for all the year for Dana. And clients are calling her and texting her all day. What are you seeing?

Because they know she's out at the stores and they want to know what she's seeing out there. How do you expect this holiday season to be interest in terms of dollars for the retailers? Are the retailers optimistic here?

I think they're cautiously optimistic. You really have a bifurcated consumer. I mean, that high end is spending.

Obviously, you've seen the benefits of the stock market, the wealth effect that Ed just talked about. On the low end, the pressure points, obviously, prices have gone up.