Target has earlier start for holiday kickoff
NEW YORK (AP) — Target Corp. will open its doors at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, three hours earlier than a year ago, to kick off the holiday shopping season.
The discounter joins several other major retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., that are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday and staggering deals over the two-day period. Over the years, stores have been expanding their hours on Black Friday to get ahead of the competition, but the kickoff is increasingly happening right after shoppers finish their turkey feast.
"We thought long and hard about when the right opening time would be," said Kathee Tesija, Target's executive vice president of merchandising. She said that 9:00 p.m. struck "a perfect balance" for its customers.
Target, based in Minneapolis, plans to offer deals that include an Apex 32-inch LCD TV for $147 and a Nikon digital camera for $99.99 for the earlier opening. From 4:00 a.m. to noon, the next day, customers who spend $50 or more on clothing, accessories or home products will earn a $10 Target gift card to use toward a future purchase. Target is also preparing additional early morning specials, including Leapfrog Explorer software for $15.
Wal-Mart said last week it will begin its holiday sale at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, two hours earlier than last year. It then will have two more rounds of sales events including a 10:00 p.m. sale on electronics and another sale at 5:00 a.m. the next day.
Sears Holdings Corp. said its Sears stores will open at 8:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Day and will stay open overnight until 10 p.m. Friday. Last year Sears stores were closed on Thanksgiving. The company's Kmart stores have been open on Thanksgiving for years.
Lord & Taylor, which was closed on Thanksgiving last year, will be open on the holiday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc. will again throw open their doors at midnight, following Thanksgiving. J.C. Penney plans to announce its Black Friday promotions on Monday.
The discounter joins several other major retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., that are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday and staggering deals over the two-day period. Over the years, stores have been expanding their hours on Black Friday to get ahead of the competition, but the kickoff is increasingly happening right after shoppers finish their turkey feast.
"We thought long and hard about when the right opening time would be," said Kathee Tesija, Target's executive vice president of merchandising. She said that 9:00 p.m. struck "a perfect balance" for its customers.
Target, based in Minneapolis, plans to offer deals that include an Apex 32-inch LCD TV for $147 and a Nikon digital camera for $99.99 for the earlier opening. From 4:00 a.m. to noon, the next day, customers who spend $50 or more on clothing, accessories or home products will earn a $10 Target gift card to use toward a future purchase. Target is also preparing additional early morning specials, including Leapfrog Explorer software for $15.
Wal-Mart said last week it will begin its holiday sale at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, two hours earlier than last year. It then will have two more rounds of sales events including a 10:00 p.m. sale on electronics and another sale at 5:00 a.m. the next day.
Sears Holdings Corp. said its Sears stores will open at 8:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Day and will stay open overnight until 10 p.m. Friday. Last year Sears stores were closed on Thanksgiving. The company's Kmart stores have been open on Thanksgiving for years.
Lord & Taylor, which was closed on Thanksgiving last year, will be open on the holiday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc. will again throw open their doors at midnight, following Thanksgiving. J.C. Penney plans to announce its Black Friday promotions on Monday.
Never shopped for Black Friday and probably never will. Cyber Monday, on the other hand...
Maybe if the retailers did something more than offer a low-end, loss leader LCD TV for $147(limit 2 per store, no rain checks or substitutions allowed) and a low end digital camera for $99.99(limit 2 per store, no rain checks or substitutions allowed) for the earlier opening, then perhaps it might be worth it. But as it stands now, it is not worth dealing with the mob mentality on 'Black Friday'. As a matter of fact, I believe the crowd was so desperate last year to get into a store that they trampled an employee to death. And I think it was over a big screen TV.
I refuse to shop on Christmas and Thanksgiving.
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Having worked retail for years, it was the only two holidays we ever got. The day after Thanksgiving we were asked to show up at 0500 and work 10 or 12 hours that day. Then work long hours every day for the next month.
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Bear in mind, retail employees don't get benefits.
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So having the day before the anarchy starts, and the day after the anarchy ends was a way to reset and actually enjoy the holidays you spent all of your waking hours to ensure everyone else got to splurge doing.
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Now stores are open both Thanksgiving AND Christmas.
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Now I understand not all people celebrate Christmas, but for goodness sake does every retailer have to have the same hours a 7-11 does (and by the way look up why they are called 7-11)?
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So I do my part and refuse to go out to eat, buy anything (including gas) or ask anyone else to work on those two holidays.
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I mean if deals mean so much to you, who didn't you buy all that "important" stuff a week after last Christmas when it was 70% off?
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