It’s the long Black Friday

‘DOG-EAT-DOG’ SALES BATTLE

DESPERATE shop bosses have launched a battle for the nation’s cash as the Black Friday sales bonanza begins.

With record numbers of stores going bust, hard-pressed retailers have extended the annual November sale from 24 hours to up to 10 days.

Everything from laptops and clothing to kitchen mixers and sofas were already on offer this weekend as retailers scrambled for a slice of the estimated £4.5billion that shoppers will spend.

Clare Bailey, author of The Retail Champion, said: “Black Friday really is a dog-eat-dog contest for the contents of our wallets this year, the like of which we have never seen before.”

A record 2,875 stores went bust in the first 10 months of this year – more than twice the number that failed in the whole of 2017 according to the Centre for Retail Research. Big names which floundered included Toys ‘R’ Us, Maplin and Poundworld, while House of Fraser was bailed out by Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley in August.

Retailers across the country are in crisis due to a “perfect storm” of economics, politics and changing customer tastes.

Mrs Bailey said: “The fall of sterling has made the raw materials needed for many goods more expensive so that’s cut shops’ profit margins. Business rates have gone up and the minimum wage has pushed up staffing costs.

“On top of that consumer confidence has dropped with people worried about Brexit.

“Put it all together and it’s a perfect storm.”

More than one in three families will bag a bargain on Black Friday – a phenomenon which began in the US.

Experts at GoCompare forecast households will spend an average of £165.

Georgie Frost from the financial services comparison website said: “In just a handful of years Black Friday has gone from a one-day event on the high street to a three-week long online marathon.”