And sporting goods chain REI, which was always closed on Thanksgiving, is bowing out of Black Friday too.
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The moves are significant because retail experts, investors and economists look to the group’s Thanksgiving weekend numbers to provide an indication of the mood of consumers heading into the holiday shopping season, a period of historically strong spending.
Gerri Spencer and her daughter left home at 4 a.m. Friday and were at Cabella’s in Kansas City, Kansas, an hour later.
Target Manager Tina Miller helps shoppers find all they need during the season of giving.
It is not clear what had prompted the two to begin fighting however one woman who said she had been in a Louisiana Walmart, captured chaotic moments on her video when people were fighting over some towels that had been loaded onto carts that had discounts.
Black Friday had an early start again this year as shoppers flocked to shopping centers, malls and stores across Georgia.
“I’m coming out to get the holiday started, coming out to get the best prices”, Fairfield resident Matt Garcia Sr., said as he approached a Best Buy store.
“As you know, we made nearly all of the stores Black Friday deals available online just after midnight PT. As they went live on the website, we saw an incredible surge in traffic”, spokesman Bao Nguyen wrote in an email.
“When you think of Black Friday, you think of electronics really big TVs, iPads, apple watches”, said Target Electronics Brand Team Member Blayne Klemetson.
Toys R Us CEO Dave Brandon said the lines at the stores weren’t quite as long as a year ago for the 5 p.m. opening on Thanksgiving, but the traffic built throughout the night.
Cyber Monday is about to kick off and there are a bevy of metrics indicating that the big finale of a five-day holiday shopping binge will feature shifting dynamics.
“There is shopper and retailer fatigue”. Some on Friday morning said they had already shopped online or visited the mall the night before.
“Let’s also remember today is a working day, with millions on office computers or on their smartphones at work able to shop easily and quickly online”.
Ramona Beyer, standing with her relatives at Melbourne Square Mall in Melbourne, Fla., holding cups of Starbucks coffee, said she’s been Black Friday shopping since her two sons were in diapers.
Frustrated shoppers complained about the Argos website, with one saying on Twitter: “10 min queue online, then it told me 8 days for delivery with no option for 24 hour, and then it crashed”. Search barely posted a gain on Thanksgiving and fell Black Friday and Cyber Saturday. On Friday, the turnout was tame at some stores around the country.
Best Buy – Opens 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving through 1 a.m. on Black Friday.
The data, without year-over-year comparisons, paints an incomplete picture of the behavior and spending of USA shoppers over the weekend.
Analysts have forecast that the flood of customers snapping up deals online could lead to a total four-day spend of £3.2 billion.
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While shoppers may have headed out Friday morning with one plan in mind, they say seeing less traffic is an encouragement to search for more deals.
