Black Friday sales take over after Thanksgiving dinner
Photo by Destinee Murray
Hundreds of people showed up when the Queen Kaʻahumanu Mall Macy’s opened up at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, 2013, for the first time in their history. These customers line up waiting to check out in front of a doorbusters sign advertising deals up to 70% off. (In the spirit of the Christmas surprise, we’ve disguised their purchases.)
People gobbled their turkey and pumpkin pie as fast as they could to start their Christmas shopping early this year.
Thanksgiving Day sales led eager consumers to stores even though tryptophan was begging them to go to sleep.
While most businesses and buildings were closed for Thanksgiving, many retailers got an early start on the season sales.
Walmart opened at 6 p.m., and Macy’s and Toys R Us opened their doors at 8 p.m.
“People were going crazy in Wal-Mart,” customer Diane Tianio said. “Everyone wants to get the sales before there’s nothing tomorrow on Black Friday.”
Though retailers have slowly been moving toward capturing those early holiday dollars, this is the first year that so many large chain stores across the nation decided to get a head start on the competition by not waiting until midnight on Black Friday.
Retailers would gain an “opportunity from a lot of people being off from work,” said Sami Reid, online customer service representative for Toys R Us.
With most people off work yesterday, many were free to shop.
It works both ways, Reid said. While stores can take advantage of the larger amount of potential consumers, customers could take advantage of the pre-Black Friday sale prices and additional shopping day.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally has been the first day of Christmas shopping. Retailers make special offers that draw in crowds of consumers.
“Necessity” stores, including K-Mart and Foodland, have always been open for a few hours on Thanksgiving Day for last-minute needs, but Kmart expanded their hours this year, opening at 6 a.m. with doorbusters like an electronic tablet for $39.99 and buy-one-get-one board games.
With lines going around and around in an already-open Macy’s, many people were also waiting in lines outside other stores for their midnight openings.
One Eighty Boardshop and Gamestop had several hundred customers lined up outside their doors. Gamestop was featuring a PS3 bundle at a $165 savings and an XBox 360 bundle at a savings of $140 off regular prices.
