Black Friday kicks off US holiday shopping
This year, Target Corp joined Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Gap Inc in being open at least part of the day on Thursday and some retailers will be open throughout the day, a trend that began to take hold in 2011.
Wal-Mart's US discount stores, which have been open on Thanksgiving Day since 1988, offered some Black Friday deals at 8 pm local time and special deals on some electronics at 10 pm Target has moved its opening from midnight to 9 pm on Thursday and Toys R Us is opening at 8 pm
It's a recognition that retailers need to be more aggressive and want to show their physical stores are important, Moody's senior analyst Charles O'Shea said.
While he didn't see enormous crowds out in Vauxhall, New Jersey, he did see about 15 people lined up already at a Best Buy, which opens at midnight. At a Target in Westbury, only two shoppers were in line for a 9 pm opening. Still, for retailers, any crowd could make the effort worth it.
It's a finite pie; if you can get a bit more by being open, then do it, O'Shea said.
The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, forecast a 4.1 percent increase in retail sales during the November-December holiday period this year, down from
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