The holiday shopping season might be getting some early momentum — even after worries about what the season could deliver for retailers.
Dallas saw a 6.2% increase for in-store sales and 11.3% growth in online sales from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, according to Block, whose lineup includes payment services such as Square, Afterpay and Cash App. That outperformed some other cities, including Atlanta and Miami.
The month of November, which wrapped up on Sunday, showed some promise based on sales tax results in the state. Among big sectors driven mostly by consumer spending, “the retail trade and service sectors increased solidly compared with November 2024,” a Texas comptroller report said this week. The retail trade sector climbed more than 3% compared with the year-ago results.
This follows a soft forecast for the season by at least some measures. According to an earlier report by Deloitte, shoppers in Dallas-Fort Worth were expected to spend 17% less in the 2025 holiday season than forecasts from a year ago. Nationally, it was down about 10%.
D-FW Retail News
Retailers could be seeing some hopeful signs early in the key shopping period, as consumers show they’re willing to spend despite concerns about economic factors such pricing and tariffs. A recent analysis showed the Texas economy was cooling following a strong summer.
At the Galleria Dallas, North Texans were happy to shop. October sales showed a strong gain year-over-year and this trend continued in November, according to Angie Freed, general manager. And, all metrics were up for the Black Friday week and weekend — vehicle counts, Santa visits, skating attendance and preliminary sales from retailers.
Nationally, a record 203 million consumers shopped during the Thanksgiving weekend compared to under 200 million last year, surpassing early expectations for about 187 million, according to the National Retail Federation. And, consumers spent $14.25 billion online for Cyber Monday, up 7.1% year over year, according to software company Adobe. That was ahead of expectations.
“This year’s record turnout reflects a highly engaged consumer who is focused on value” and “responds to compelling promotions,“ NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said in the statement on the number of consumers shopping.
The NRF said Black Friday was the biggest day of the weekend, though down for both online and in-store sales based on visits. However, Saturday came in strong and Sunday showed particularly healthy results.
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