Retailers open on Thanksgiving report strong sales

The Black Friday shopping bonanza appears to be off to a strong start, but the final numbers won’t be in until later this weekend.

Analysts at SunTrust said Thanksgiving Day shopping was a “bust” this year, citing visits to shopping malls in the Northeast and the southeastern US.

The firm said it was surprised by the decision of numerous retailers to not open at all on Thanksgiving and that some shoppers were buying outerwear, an item most observers think consumers would have already purchased. Mall parking lots and stores are jam-packed with shoppers looking for the next best deal. One was sold every second on Thanksgiving, according to a Forbes report. Big-screen TVs, other electronics such as the Apple Watch and toys helped drive some of that traffic.

While Macy’s, J.C.Penney, Kohl’s, and Walmart will also be open on Thanksgiving Day, a few retailers, like REI, are starting to catch on to the fact that it’s kind of a PR nightmare when someone gets trampled to death in your store, and will remain closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. The giant discounter reported it saw “solid” in-store traffic with “millions of guests” in stores throughout the night Thursday into Friday that were on par with or slightly above what Target has seen in recent years.

The Wii U was named as the top-selling item on Target.com, with the iPad and Apple Watch becoming top sellers both in-store and online.

55-inch Westinghouse TV priced at $249.99.

Traffic at stores declined on Thanksgiving Day and into the wee hours of Black Friday analysts say, though executives at major retailers were pleased with the turnout. On Turkey Thursday and Black Friday itself, Old Navy will be offering up to 50 percent discounts, store-wide.

Top toys included LEGO, Barbie, Disney Princess and Star Wars.

Beats Solo 2 headphones were one of the top sellers on Target.com and in stores at $96.99 (reg. $199.99).

Target’s Thanksgiving holiday sales likely reflect the deals that Target is giving to iPad buyers, rather than a turnaround in sales for the tablet category, which has seen some sharp declines of late.

Unfortunately, a Target spokesperson revealed that there are no future plans to carry the bears in stores after the Black Friday sale.