Roses & thistles: Keep Thanksgiving Day for family

In prior years, roughly a third of Americans had begun their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving weekend and major shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Also, saving these items for Cyber Monday isn’t a bad idea either! “We are encouraged by the national retail projections and look forward to shoppers taking advantage of our popular selection of stores as they complete their holiday gift list”.

Somewhat interestingly, the ICSC survey found that approximately two-fifths of spending planned for the Thanksgiving weekend will be on merchandise not intended as holiday gifts. According to NRF, 55% of those that planned to head to stores during Thanksgiving weekend a year ago actually shopped in that period.

If people are more likely to stay in on Thanksgiving, then why not get an early start and beat the crowd? Newspapers are stuffed with sale flyers, commercials are promoting the “door buster” deals, and online ads promise the best bargains.

So you finally make it to the register and the cashier asks if you want to open a store credit card for an additional 10 to 15 % off your purchase. “Small Business Saturday was a phenomenal day a year ago”, Sutherland said.

A few shoppers don’t mind skipping out on Thanksgiving dinner early because sometimes you just get the best deals. Many stores release their best Black Friday deals to people who have signed up to receive their emails.

The belief that sales are short-lived or that items are in limited supply isn’t necessarily true.

Here’s a quick guide on the best time to act to buy toys, clothes and other items, according to Adobe’s analysis.

The day after Thanksgiving was originally dubbed “Black Friday” as a negative due to traffic, crowds and hostile behavior. However, in recent decades, Thanksgiving is increasingly known as the day right before the more profitable, headline-making, bigger cash-cow of American holidays: Black Friday.

With industry forecasters projecting retail sales gains more modest than a year ago, it is critical for retailers to reach and engage interested shoppers in their communities at every opportunity.