'Star Wars' Black Friday Sales Hit Or Miss For Retail Stores In US

These are not the deals you’re looking for, but maybe these ones are (apologies to Obi-Wan Kenobi). Toys and other assorted merchandise for the upcoming film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” faced spotty sales store-by-store during Black Friday.

Not only is “Star Wars” a highly anticipated movie for the holidays, with a new trailer premiering on Thanksgiving, but the affiliated merchandise could have been a key driver for retail sales -- the shelves were filled with it.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) has put a retail focus on the new installment of its franchise, first by unveiling merchandise Sept. 3 with what was called "Force Friday." The retail toy sales are expected to bring in at least $1 billion this year, and all other "Star Wars" merchandise at least another $2 billion, analysts told Fortune in September.

For Black Friday, new items like “Star Wars” bedding at Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) and 18-inch action figures at privately held Toys R Us filled the aisles of the busiest retailers. Yet only some items were instant grabs.

“I’m sure there will be some missing, but there’s plenty more to choose from,” said a clerk from a Toys R Us in Orlando, Florida. “There’s many, many, many more that we have in the back.”

Stores have anticipated the arrival of Black Friday shoppers and “Star Wars” fans. But The Street reported that many of those items thought to be longed-after remained on shelves, including at a Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) in New York:

But not every brick-and-mortar retail location was wary of overstocked shelves or empty stores. Employees from a Kmart in South Carolina reported their store, which opened at 6 a.m. Thursday and will not close until 10 p.m. Friday, had steady morning traffic. “It’s not overwhelming, but we’re really steady,” Shirley Henderson, the store manager, said.

As for the Star Wars collections, Henderson said, “There’s a lot of missing items. It’s kind of across the board, especially the doorbusters." Kmart’s “Star Wars”-related Black Friday deals included $9.99 action figures and a $4.99 lightsaber.

“We’re going to need to be refilled for Christmas,” she continued. Indeed, Black Friday isn’t the store’s only hope.