- Sep 20, 2006
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Excerpt:
NEW YORK (AP) ? Hard-core shoppers who flock to stores and malls at 5 a.m. Friday for post-Thanksgiving bargains may find that they're stragglers: A number of retailers will open at midnight with early-bird specials to begin the holiday season.
CompUSA and BJ's Wholesale Club will be open on Thanksgiving Day for an even bigger head start.
Some retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy are resisting the urge to pull an all-nighter, at least for now. Bart Reed, Best Buy's consumer marketing director, said the store will stick to the 5 a.m. opening on Friday to give store associates a "work-life balance."
Toys R Us will open all its stores at 5 a.m., too, says spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh.
Other retailers say they have no choice but to throw themselves into the midnight game on Black Friday, so named because it was traditionally when the surge of shopping made stores profitable.
"It would make terrible business sense if we didn't do it," said Ernie Speranza, chief marketing officer at KB Toys, which will have more than 50 stores opening at midnight Friday, up from nine a year ago.
Sharise Monroe, of Miami, plans to begin shopping before dawn on Friday to get the special offers at Wal-Mart, Target and others. "I try to get the one of five items they have out for that price," said Monroe. She's looking for computer upgrades and a printer for a digital camera.
Two years ago, mall developer General Growth Properties experimented with having its Birmingham, Ala., mall open at midnight.
This year, seven malls will greet very early shoppers.
The big crowds and the discounts of 50% and 60% have even caught the attention of foreign tourists, who in the past two years made trips specifically to partake in Black Friday shopping.
"They all want to be part of the American shopping experience," said Michele Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for Chelsea Property, which will open 25 of its 36 U.S. outlet centers at midnight on Friday, up from last year's seven.
Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-11-20-holiday-sales_x.htm
NEW YORK (AP) ? Hard-core shoppers who flock to stores and malls at 5 a.m. Friday for post-Thanksgiving bargains may find that they're stragglers: A number of retailers will open at midnight with early-bird specials to begin the holiday season.
CompUSA and BJ's Wholesale Club will be open on Thanksgiving Day for an even bigger head start.
Some retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy are resisting the urge to pull an all-nighter, at least for now. Bart Reed, Best Buy's consumer marketing director, said the store will stick to the 5 a.m. opening on Friday to give store associates a "work-life balance."
Toys R Us will open all its stores at 5 a.m., too, says spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh.
Other retailers say they have no choice but to throw themselves into the midnight game on Black Friday, so named because it was traditionally when the surge of shopping made stores profitable.
"It would make terrible business sense if we didn't do it," said Ernie Speranza, chief marketing officer at KB Toys, which will have more than 50 stores opening at midnight Friday, up from nine a year ago.
Sharise Monroe, of Miami, plans to begin shopping before dawn on Friday to get the special offers at Wal-Mart, Target and others. "I try to get the one of five items they have out for that price," said Monroe. She's looking for computer upgrades and a printer for a digital camera.
Two years ago, mall developer General Growth Properties experimented with having its Birmingham, Ala., mall open at midnight.
This year, seven malls will greet very early shoppers.
The big crowds and the discounts of 50% and 60% have even caught the attention of foreign tourists, who in the past two years made trips specifically to partake in Black Friday shopping.
"They all want to be part of the American shopping experience," said Michele Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for Chelsea Property, which will open 25 of its 36 U.S. outlet centers at midnight on Friday, up from last year's seven.
Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-11-20-holiday-sales_x.htm
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