By Kelly Hodges
Savvy shoppers have always known that in order to get the best possible deals on Black Friday one must wake at the wee hours of the morning to make it to the early store openings. This year it may mean skipping Thanksgiving dessert. With the competition for consumer dollars high, retailers are pushing their store openings earlier, and store hours longer, in an effort to become a shopper’s first destination.
Of the major holiday retailers, Toys R Us will be opening its doors first at 9pm on Thanksgiving. Walmart plans to follow at 10pm, with Kohls, Macy’s, Target, and Best Buy all opening at midnight. JC Penny and Sears will be sticking with the more traditional 4am Black Friday start time. Considering that shoppers often stand in line for upwards of 2 hours prior to opening to ensure they get in on all the “doorbuster” shopping deals, this means that many may be cutting out of their Thanksgiving celebration early in order to get in on the action.
Retailers insist that they are opening earlier at the request of consumers, so it will be interesting to see what the actual consumer response will be. I for one am not willing to give up my apple pie no matter how discounted LEGOs are, but Toys R Us is betting there are lots of people out there who will be. We’ll have to wait until the sales numbers from the biggest shopping day of the year come in to know if this change in tactic will pay off for retailers, or if it will come up like the short end of the wishbone.
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Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of her employer or any other person or entity.
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