These 2 were the busiest U.S. apparel and beauty stores on Black Friday

Investing.com -- In a note to clients on Monday, Piper Sandler highlighted the strongest in-store traffic among U.S. apparel and beauty retailers over Black Friday weekend. 

Lululemon and Ulta Beauty are the companies in question. Analyst Anna Andreeva said that “based on our store checks, LULU and ULTA were the busiest stores,” noting that Lululemon’s broad discounting appeared to be a key draw.

The firm noted that overall consumer engagement on Black Friday remained healthy. 

Citing Adobe data, Piper Sandler reported that online sales “were up 9.4%, exceeding expectations,” while Mastercard SpendingPulse showed that total spending rose 4.1% year over year. 

Still, the firm cautioned that while shoppers continue to show up for major events, “lulls after also tend to be more pronounced.”

Lululemon stood out for unusually heavy markdowns. Andreeva stated that “breadth & depth [were] well above LY’s levels,” with SKUs on sale up 100% compared with last year. 

Women’s shorts inventory on sale rose nearly 300%, while leggings were up 130% and hoodies up 150%. Accessories saw increases of more than 100%. 

The analyst added that the “number of investor questions on LULU is moving up,” reflecting both its year-to-date underperformance and a “specialty retail-like valuation.”

Ulta matched last year’s promotional stance, running “Up to 50% off Black Friday deals,” similar to Sephora, Piper Sandler noted. 

The firm added that Ulta launched its Cyber event on Sunday with “Up to 40% off vs. Up to 50% off LY,” which it said could “potentially [suggest] successful Black Friday weekend?”

Across footwear, beauty, and e-commerce more broadly, promotional patterns varied. Piper Sandler said Nike and Adidas were “less promotional,” while Crocs, HeyDude, and Hoka increased discount depth. 

Etsy and Revolve were described as “inline,” with Lululemon again showing the “biggest breadth and depth of discounting.”