Major retailers push huge sales this weekend.
So 2009: People wait in line before 5 a.m. last year to get into Best Buy in the Carousel Center mall.We've seen Christmas decorations in stores before the kids even went back to school in September, so we suppose it's inevitable. Retailers are beginning their blockbuster "Black Friday" holiday shopping sales this weekend, instead of the traditional day after Thanksgiving.
The New York Times is reporting that retailers including Sears, Wal-Mart and Target are offering big promotions to lure shoppers before Thanksgiving. Sears starts its "Black Friday Now" deals this Friday, and Toys R Us is putting all the items in its Christmas toy book on sale starting on Sunday, the newspaper reports.
From The New York Times:
Black Friday creep has been around for a while, but analysts say this year breaks new ground: the range of stores offering early discounts is wider, the discounts are steeper and the sale periods longer — in some instances, a full month before the real thing. ...
“Consumers have been trained to buy merchandise only ‘on sale,’ ” Sherif Mityas, a partner in the retail practice at the consulting firm A. T. Kearney, said in an e-mail. “Given a limited budget, if retailers don’t capture that first or second purchase, they may find themselves with a lot of inventory the week before Christmas and the need for massive discounting to save the holiday.”
» Read the full story: Stores Push Black Friday Into October [The New York Times]
» U.S. retail sales flat in week [UPI]