Black Friday? Not This Year

This year, almost half of Americans plan to shop on Black Friday, according to a recent poll by Consumer Reports.

Some department stores, like JCPenny and Macy’s, will open much earlier and stay open until 10 p.m. Friday. This is one of the many LED TV deals going on at Meijer this year. If you pay enough attention to deals offered by retailers, you could have a very successful holiday shopping season. “Part of it is trying to make it more accessible to consumers so people don’t feel like they have to be there” to get the big deals.

In terms of promotions, the extended Thanksgiving weekend has been carved up into specific days that cater to one’s shopping methods, including support for mom-and-pop businesses (hence, Small Business Saturday) over big-box stores or online retailers. But if I were to choose a day that has given me the most savings, I would have to choose Black Friday. The Wal-Mart in Henrietta will be open at 6 a.m. on Friday. Gift Cards tend to be at full price on Black Friday. Instead of leaving your Thanksgiving dinner and the warmth of family and friends behind, fire up your laptop, tablet, or smartphone and shop for deals online. Target said it’s exploring plans to expand to other markets. In fact, the early hours of the morning seem to be the flawless time frame for shopping on this special day, because this is the least crowded period of the best shopping day of the year.

Not so, says Saugus resident Jessica Valdez, who was among the deal-hunters spending Wednesday afternoon outside Best Buy in Saugus, awaiting the store’s opening at 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We will hand out as many tickets as we have TVs available. We want it to be a good thing”, Freeland said.

But come Friday, some will be up before the Sunday.

Acadiana Mall will open its doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving night to give shoppers a jump-start on their holiday shopping. Closed between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Black Friday.

Shoppers said they enjoy the early finds “ya end up with a $80 coat for $29.99 between coupons and 50% off and stuff like that”, said shopper Cindy Landry. The National Retail Federation, a trade group for store owners, expects industrywide sales to be up 3.7 percent in November and December, less than the 4.1 percent of last year’s holiday season.