Many stores will be opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day for Black Friday sales this year.
Despite headline grabbing petitions by employees of some major retailers last year, stores are feeling the pressure to get a jump on the big sales day.
A manager of a local Tommy Bahamas outlet store told CP she was dreading Thanksgiving night. “None of the employees want to leave their families right after Thanksgiving dinner to have the store open by 10pm Thursday. But when the mall opens its doors, you have to too,” she said.
Last year Target opened at midnight. Unhappy employees petitioned the company, asking them to move it back to Friday morning. Apparently unfazed, Target is opening even earlier this year, 9pm on Thursday.
Walmart, Kmart, Sears and Toys R US will get the drop on Target though. They all plan to open at 8pm on Thursday. Update – Kmart’s site now says they’ll open at 6am on Thursday.
Best Buy, with it’s famous doorbusters deals, will be opening at midnight. They are in a bit of a different category though, as serious shoppers have a reputation for lining up for Best Buy’s Black Friday sale days ahead of the event. Best Buy said they will start handing out tickets for entry into the store at 10pm on Thursday.
Other stores opening at midnight include Kohl’s, Macy’s and Sports Authority.
A number of stores will keep to the more traditional early morning Black Friday openings. Home Depot will open at 5am, as does Lowe’s and Staples. JC Penny opens at 6am.
However, some of the above chain stores will open at different times. This might occur in malls, for example, where the stores have a set time they are opening all together. There are also some states, Massachusetts and Maine come to mind, that do not allow stores to open until midnight.
It’s easy to criticize stores for opening on Thanksgiving. But are Thursday evening Black Friday sales a bad thing for shoppers? Or does it give us more opportunities to get good deals?
What’s your take? Please leave your comments below!
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