Cold Turkey! The Coldest Black Friday Weekend in Over 25 Years Had Shoppers Stuffing Their Baskets with Seasonal Categories

Rain and Snow Basted the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day, and Dried Out Over the Weekend

The Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend (November 28 – December 1) was the coldest in over 25 years, and the driest since 2017, helping kickoff the holiday shopping season with strong demand for seasonal categories. The cold temperatures were welcomed by many businesses who have been dealing with the impacts of a very warm Fall season to date. The cold conditions compared to Black Friday weekend last year helped increase demand for seasonal apparel such as outerwear, boots, sweaters, scarves, gloves, and hats. Shoppers were also purchasing consumables such as hot food and drinks. While Thanksgiving Day was the wettest since 2015 and had the most snowfall in 5 years, conditions dried out over the weekend.

Many major markets had their coldest holiday weekend in over 25 years including Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis and Omaha. Nashville was coldest since 2002 while Atlanta, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh were coldest since 2013. New York City, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle were each coldest since 2019. In addition, New York City and other major markets in the Northeast experienced temperatures below freezing for the first time this season. Conversely, Los Angeles and Phoenix were the warmest since 2017; Houston since 2022.

According to Facteus, the largest provider of consumer transaction data, credit and debit card spending confirms that favorable weather conditions in several Western markets supported store-based transactions for the Thursday through Saturday period compared to the corresponding Black Friday weekend days last year.

While frigid conditions helped support weather-driven demand for seasonal goods, store-based retail sales declined in some markets in the Midwest and East. According to Facteus, sales at department stores were -11% in Boston, -10% in Chicago, -5% in Atlanta for the first three days of the weekend compared to 2023.

Looking ahead, Cyber Monday (December 2, 2024) will lead into high volume shopping days in December. For reference, December 2023 was the warmest on record with the least snowfall in over 30 years. The National Retail Federation expects total holiday sales to grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023.

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