Black Friday shopping was upstaged in recent years by retail heavyweights opening the day before, on Thanksgiving, now referred to by some as Thanksgetting Day. But why wait even for Thanksgiving?
This year some retailers are promoting even earlier deals, further advancing the front end of the holiday shopping season.
In Hawaii, shoppers can snag “Black Friday” deals online at Walmart at 10:01 tonight.
The world’s largest retailer advertises that its Black Friday starts in stores at 6 p.m. Thursday, the same as last year. This year, though, the same deals can be had at Walmart.com starting at 3:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, which is 10:01 p.m. Wednesday Hawaii time.
“That’s a great new option for our customers,” said Debbie Shima, manager of the Walmart on Keeaumoku Street in Honolulu.
At Best Buy a recent holiday shopping ad proclaimed that “Black Friday prices” could be had starting this past Sunday through today. “Don’t wait for Black Friday,” the ad urges.
And “pre-Thanksgiving savings” that included $1,200 off a 75-inch TV started Friday at Costco.
Still, for many shoppers, including Honolulu resident Ayumu Matsutaka, Black Friday is still the traditional day to head to the mall for bargains.
“I’m really hyped,” he said. “I’m super excited.”
Matsutaka, who was born and raised on Oahu, used to go every year to Waikele Center in the wee hours of the morning on Black Friday. But he hasn’t made the Black Friday excursion for the last five years because he was living in Japan. The 28-year-old moved back to Hawaii in May and plans to visit Ala Moana Center with his wife Friday, though he hasn’t decided on a detailed plan yet.
Ala Moana’s mall hours Friday are from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., though several stores open earlier, including the Gap at 4 a.m. and GameStop at 5 a.m. About 40 stores at Hawaii’s largest shopping center open at midnight Friday. And about 25 Ala Moana stores open Thursday, including Old Navy at 4 p.m., Macy’s at 6 p.m., Ripcurl at 9 p.m. and Armani Exchange at 10 p.m.
Matsutaka said he was hooked on Black Friday by bold merchandise discounts. “I didn’t know you could buy a pair of Adidas shoes for $19,” he said. “We were like, ‘Damn. Everything’s cheap.’”
Shima at the Keeaumoku Walmart said she expects the store, which is open 24 hours a day, will attract a crowd Thursday.
“It’s Black Thursday now,” she said.
Shoppers will be allowed to start lining up in the store at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving for special sale items. One caveat about Walmart’s online specials is that a delivery surcharge applies outside the mainland.
A survey by the National Retail Federation suggests that about 59 percent of shoppers plan to make purchases between Thanksgiving and Sunday this year.
“The importance of Thanksgiving weekend to both retailers and consumers will never change,” the organization’s President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “However, retailers have already given consumers several good reasons to start their holiday shopping earlier.”
The trade group expects that total U.S. consumer spending excluding automobiles, gas and dining out will rise 3.7 percent this year to $630.5 billion in November and December.
ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based consumer research firm, predicts that Black Friday will be the busiest shopping day of this year’s holiday season after it ranked second last year behind the Saturday before Christmas, dubbed “Super Saturday.”
The company said price-conscious shoppers motivated by sales along with a “growing tendency toward earlier shopping” and Hanukkah starting 10 days earlier this year are reasons for its prediction.
“This year, there are a number of retailers that are choosing to remain closed on Thanksgiving, and we expect that to complement current trends and return Black Friday to the top spot for both sales and shopper visits,” Kevin Kearns, ShopperTrak’s chief revenue officer, said in a statement.
ShopperTrak estimates that consumers will spend 2.4 percent more during this holiday season compared with last year.
