Over the years, the beginning of Black Friday has crept forward, with shoppers waking up at increasingly early times to be to get a special deal. This year, many stores are announcing extreme hours, with some opening as early as possible on Black Friday.
Three stores that have already announced these early hours are Macy’s, Target, and Kohl’s. In particular, Target is aiming for an enormous Black Friday, and will be staying open for 23 hours, from midnight to 11 pm.
These are examples of a fast-growing trend. In a rough economy, many are willing to go out at these special hours to snap up discounted items before they are gone. Last year, a few stores, including Wal-mart and Sears, even opted to start their Black Friday shopping experience a day early on Thanksgiving.
Emily Thompson, a junior with a double major in English and journalism, thinks that extended Black Friday sale hours is good for both the consumer and the distributer.
“I think stores see it as a good opportunity to make money because even though the economy isn’t doing well, people still get really enthusiastic about Black Friday. If they open earlier and have more things available, it’ll be more likely that they’ll make a profit,” said Thompson.
Further, the National Retail Federation has predicted that there will be a slight increase this year in sales compared to that of last year’s. The federation has also estimated that almost 10 percent of shoppers begin their Black Friday shopping experience at midnight. With an increasing number of stores opting to start their sales early, that number should only climb.
Many companies have already started Black Friday-esque sales, calling them their pre-Black Friday sales. Currently, Amazon has a pre-Black Friday store, with discounted items that will be available until new deals come out on Black Friday.
However, the heightened effort by stores will go to waste if the stores cannot get the message out to the buyers.
When asked about the early start times and pre-Black Friday sales, freshman math major Andrew Parker, “To be honest I hadn’t really noticed.”