If you have a black belt in Black Friday shopping, listen up: Some area big-box retailers are gearing up to sell to bargain hunters even earlier this year—starting on Thanksgiving Day.
Last week, Walmart announced that it would open its doors at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 22, and offer holiday doorbusters while supplies last. These include deals on TVs, iPads, an electric scooter for $79 and a steam mop for $39.
Not to be outdone, Target and Best Buy are also planning all-out holiday shopping assaults.
Target's deals begin at 9 p.m. According to an ad leaked online, the best deals will be for TVs, a Nook, a Nikon camera and an XBOX 360 Kinect bundle.
At Best Buy, doors open at midnight. Doorbusters include deals on TVs, phones and Samsung laptop bundles.
P.C. Richard & Son, a metropolitan New York electronics and appliances retailer with a store in Norwalk, has vociferously rejected opening its store on Thanksgiving Day and will remain shut till Friday morning.
"It is our opinion that retailers who choose to open on Thanksgiving Day or night show no respect to their employees or families, and are in total disrespect of family values in the United States of America," the retailer said in a statement reprinted on its Facebook page.
Hearst newspapers, including the Stamford Advocate, have published a report on the Thanksgiving-opening controversy (mentioning that P.C. Richard will open its stores at 4 a.m. Friday), and Patch's Susan Schoenberger has commented on it in an opinion piece, concluding:
Consumers can decide whether or not they want to support a move that seems to lead inevitably to mega sales that coincide with the Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning. If you don't think Walmart should be opening on Thanksgiving night, don't shop there.
Not everyone is complaining, however. A recent survey by Deloitte showed 23 percent plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving Day - up from 17 percent in last year's survey, according to a report in Reuters. Financial data on the impact of Thanksgiving openings is elusive, but a Deloitte executive said it is likely that sales made that day merely shift spending, not create more spending.
