Indeed, sales dropped 13.2 percent to $9.74 billion on Black Friday last year. Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is starting to take a bite out of Black Friday business. Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman at the retail trade group, said that earlier promotions in the month and shoppers' uncertainty about when they can get the best deals are factors that could lead to fewer shoppers coming out on the holiday. The National Retail Federation expects 25.6 million shoppers to take advantage of the Thanksgiving openings, down slightly down from last year. Last year's figure grew two-fold from the year before.
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But increasingly, they've been pushing those promotions earlier on Friday - and eventually into the holiday itself - to grab deal-hungry shoppers' attention.īill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 70,000 stores globally, is expecting a sales increase of 3 percent to 5 percent to $2.57 billion to $2.62 billion on Thanksgiving. Used to be that Black Friday was when they'd focus their sales promotions. The Thanksgiving openings are one way retailers are trying to compete for Americans' holiday dollars. Penney - are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday. And this year, at least half of them - including Target, Macy's, Staples and J.C. Last year, more than dozen major retailers opened at some point on Thanksgiving evening. Just a few years ago when a few stores started opened late on the holiday, the move was met with resistance from workers and shoppers who believed the day should be sacred. "I'm going to try to avoid the crowds," said Smalls, who plans on spending $300 or $400 on gifts this year.
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She said she wanted to avoid heading out on the day after the holiday known as Black Friday. Mary Smalls, 40, was there trying to get all her shopping done on Thanksgiving. By the time the doors opened at 5 p.m., the number of people waiting in line had doubled. on Thanksgiving, 100 shoppers were in line at the Toys R Us in New York City's Times Square. NEW YORK - Early-bird shoppers headed to stores on Thanksgiving in what's becoming a new holiday tradition.īy 4 p.m. for Black Friday specials Thanksgiving evening. Shoppers wait in line in front of Kohls near Gunbarrel Road to open its doors at 6:00 p.m.