Thanksgiving leftovers will barely be cool by the time the first batch of holiday shoppers head out the door Thursday night and on Black Friday.
A number of national retailers and shopping malls are opening doors as early as 9 p.m. Thursday.
Bay Park Square mall in Ashwaubenon and the majority of its tenants are among the retail locations getting an early jump on the holiday shopping season.
"Last year we opened at 4 a.m. … but there were about a dozen stores that opened at midnight and reported significant sales and a jump on the day," said Amy McCarthy-Gignac, director of marketing and business development at the mall. "This year, with the department stores nationally opting to open at midnight, pretty much everybody wants to follow suit so as to not lose ground on the most important shopping day of the year."
She said the mall tailors its hours around those of the department stores.
The mall is open from midnight Thursday to 10 p.m. Friday.
East Town Mall in Green Bay and several of its retailers are opening at 3 a.m. Friday and others at 7 a.m.
Mike Bettiga, chief operating officer at Ashwaubenon-based Shopko, said much of the industry has eyed the move to an earlier opening time on Black Friday.
Shopko stores traditionally are open Thanksgiving Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will be again this year. They then will reopen at midnight for Black Friday.
"It's done very strategically this year in terms of what the competition is doing and what customers are obviously looking for," he said. "What we have seen over the years is there are a lot of customers that don't like that mad crunch you got at 4, 5 or 6 in the morning."
Bettiga said Shopko expects the shopping on Friday will be spread out over a longer period of time with several customer spikes.
"It's going to be more convenient for customers to come in and get those types of specials for a longer time," he said. "You will get an early peak and then you'll get another and probably get another one early in the morning. We think most of the peaks that day will occur between midnight and noon. Then it will be a more subdued shopping pattern in the afternoon and early evening."
Smaller Shopko Hometown stores open at 5 a.m. Friday.
The move to sales on Thanksgiving night and in the wee hours of Black Friday does have a market, said Barry Berman, professor in the Department of Marketing and International Business at Hofstra University in New York
"There are some real advantages to retailers," he said. "If you're a compulsive shopper you can say, 'I can spread my time out and do some shopping late Thanksgiving evening and I can do some shopping Black Friday.' There is a hardcore group of shoppers who are value-based shoppers looking for the very best buy."
It also offers a shopping window for people who would rather shop at 9 p.m. instead of waking hours before the sun comes up to start shopping.
But Berman expressed concerns over the social implications of Black Friday bleeding into Thanksgiving night.
"You have a 9 p.m. bargain and what's going to happen is at 8 p.m. when you are serving dinner or the family is sitting down reminiscing about someone that recently got married, gave birth or passed away, someone is going to say … 'Nothing personal, but this hot (camera) I've always wanted now is my chance. And I'll take dessert with me.'"
Walmart stores plan to kick off Black Friday specials at 10 p.m. Thursday, while Toys R Us will open its doors at stores nationwide at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
Old Navy is also expected to be open the majority of the day on Thanksgiving, McCarthy-Gignac said.
"We'll see how that trend continues," she said. "If the customer is willing to shop on Thanksgiving then the stores, by and large, will want to tailor to the desires of customers to shop on that day. So it's in the hands of the customers."
Not all stores open early on Black Friday.
David Zeller, owner of Zeller's Ski and Sport in Allouez, is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
"Due to the business I'm in, it's a totally different scenario than a mass retailer," he said Wednesday. "I'm more of a destination business, so I think people that want to ski and want the service are going to come here regardless if I'm open at midnight."
Zeller said Black Friday usually yields strong sales, but he'll see a spike in business on Saturday in the wake of the rush to mass-market retailers.
Bettiga concedes the midnight opening is uncharted territory for Shopko.
"This is kind of brave new territory for us, none of really know for sure. Our expectation is it will peak and valley and that the overall day will be similar to what we've done in the past, just more spread out," he said. "You're going to react to what customers want and what markets want, but I think now that it's moved to midnight that will become the new norm for most people."
No comments:
Post a Comment