“This is the start of a really good shopping season, ” he said.
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Best Buy will be open until 1 a-m Thursday and open again for Black Friday at 10 a.m. Shoppers lined up outside stores, some as early as Wednesday morning. New this year at Target: shoppers who spend $75 or more on Friday will receive a 20 percent discount to use toward a future purchase on any day between December 4 and December 13.
Robert Murphy of Farmington was one of the first few people standing in line at Toys “R” Us.
Some shoppers rearranged their holiday plans in order to partake in the festivities.
“It’s nice to know that if you get there early, it will pay off. And it was nice to have the police officer there making sure no one cut or anything”, said Gamble.
“Whatever, the discounting frenzy has created the day and created the consumer demand – telling consumers now that they won’t be getting a bargain is not as easy as it might appear”.
Standing in line for Black Friday, on Thanksgiving, is becoming it’s own holiday tradition. “That’s why they came out with smartphones”, Bland said.
Employees might not have wanted to work the holiday, but some retailers reported offering more than just holiday pay.
This is the time when retailers tap potential shoppers.
Shopping for a brand new TV set at a great price this Black Friday won’t be hard.
“We’ve come out Thanksgiving night for about five years in a row”. These types of incentives lead to camping out at some stores, like Best Buy, which had a line that went from the store front to the loading dock two hours prior to the doors opening. Overall, almost 136 million people are slated to shop over the entire holiday weekend, up from almost 134 million a year ago, according to NRF. “Where they’re going to be located”, said Justice.
He said he expects sales to be up 25 percent this Black Friday weekend, including Cyber Monday, from previous year.
But, she said, the evening will still revolve around family. “No doubt about it”.
The doors opened shortly before 6:00 p.m. this year at Walmart in Gillette and people were waiting in line long before the doors opened. Black Friday die-hards have braved wind, rain and snow in previous years; many of them bringing portable heaters, tents and heavy sleeping bags to fight the elements.
“We’ve planned this event for more than a year”.
“It was pretty nice for a change”, said Ashley Ponte, of Mississauga, Ont. But for some customers they liked the deals on Friday “I liked when it opened at 3 a.m., because we had to stay up all night”, said Jordan and Jennifer James who were shopping at Toys R Us.
Some retail experts believe shoppers will spend more this Christmas shopping season because gas prices are low.
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“Especially with online shopping, I can see how people would prefer to just get it, especially since there are many deals with no added shipping”, Frankel-Fein told NBC station WWLP of Springfield. “Black Friday is not what it used to be”.
