Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving night
BY KYLE ARNOLD World Staff Writer
Thursday, November 22, 2012
11/22/12 at 5:01 AM
For more
For updates on lines, sales and
merchandise on Thanksgiving
night, follow Tulsa World Staff
Writer Kyle Arnold on Twitter at
@kylelarnold.
The "Thanksgiving creep" moves Black Friday shopping hours even earlier this year, as retailers vie for an increasingly competitive share of consumer spending.
Shoppers are expected to spend more this year, a 4.1 percent boost, and more stores are opening at 8 p.m. Thursday and midnight.
Consumers are apparently embracing the earlier hours as stores that opened early last year reported bigger sales than stores that didn't.
"Though the Black Friday tradition is here to stay, there's no question that it has changed in recent years; already there is a tremendous amount of excitement and anticipation surrounding retailers' Thanksgiving and Black Friday promotions," said National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay in a statement. "It's critical for retail companies to constantly evolve as consumers do, and right now shoppers want great deals, good value, and convenience - exactly what we're seeing with this season's late and early openings, price-matching, layaway, and mobile offerings."
The retail group expects some 147 million shoppers to make purchases in-store or online during the four-day weekend.
Walmart, Toys 'R' Us, Kmart and Sears are among the first group of stores to open at 8 p.m. with doorbusters on TVs, laptops, clothing, toys, video games and more.
Target is opening at 9 p.m. followed by Best Buy, Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods and others at midnight.
Only a handful of hold-out retailers are opening Friday morning, starting at 5 a.m.
Original Print Headline: Black Friday earlier now
Kyle Arnold 918-581-8380
kyle.arnold@tulsaworld.com
