Thread: any black friday shoppers?

Here is a article that was in the Reading Newspaper last week. Good sales are already starting. I have already ran across several good sales myself and started shopping because of them. So I would watch sales and start now and not wait on Black Friday unless you know for sure of something good for a Black Friday sale.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=164645

Retailers want customers in the stores early this holiday season, and experts warn some of the best deals may be gone before Black Friday.

You probably aren't ready to trim your tree or deck your halls yet.

After all, Christmas is still seven weeks away.

But it's actually prime time to start your holiday shopping this year, as there are bargains already there to be had, according to retail experts.

"Black Friday is no longer the start of the shopping season," said Scott Krugman, spokesman for the National Retail Federation. "It now starts before Halloween."

A tight economy has pushed stores to offer big Christmas sales earlier than ever, meaning there have been good deals available for weeks.

Meanwhile the economy has prompted retailers to stock less merchandise than usual for Christmas, so while some of the sales will last until Black Friday, the merchandise may not, experts say.

The early sales and reduced stock are in anticipation of a slight drop in holiday sales from 2008, which was historically bad due to the recession, Krugman said.

Shoppers are going to be frugal this season, so retailers want to get to them early while they still have money to spend, he said.

"There is so much competition this year with sales," he said. "Retailers are being extra aggressive and want to get their message out early."

Retailers also don't want to be stuck with a lot of unsold merchandise after Christmas, so they have limited how much they are putting on the shelves, said Dr. James Ogden, marketing professor at Kutztown University.

"Stores want to protect themselves from a bad Christmas season," he said.

"Shoppers who wait until the last minute this year will be disappointed at what's left," agreed Albright College professor Doreen Burdalski, chairwoman of the school's Fashion Department. "My advice is to buy early."

It's not only the cheaper televisions and discounted leather jackets that are drawing customers out earlier this year.

It's that more consumers want to spread out their payments instead of making all of their purchases at once or placing them on credit cards, Burdalski said.

That's the strategy of Trudy Birtwistle of Elverson, who last week started her Christmas shopping earlier than ever by visiting Sears in the Berkshire Mall.

"I'm trying not to use my credit card anymore," said Birtwistle, who said her minimum payments and interest rate on her card have gotten out of control.

So Birtwistle plans to hit the stores every two weeks, after paydays, between now and Christmas to purchase a few gifts at a time with cash. She got started by buying a discounted Snuggie - "the blanket with sleeves" - for one of her grandchildren.

Also shopping for early deals was Mary Williford of Oley, who said she's seeing better and earlier sales this year at all the stores she's visited.

"They're discounting almost everything," she said, pointing out recent bargains she got on men's shirts and Christmas cards.

Though consumers often complain about stores decorating earlier and earlier for Christmas each year, those holiday touches always come in late October, store managers said.

"It's always the same date," Sears manager Harry Lutz said. "I guess it just seems earlier each year."

But the big sales did in fact come earlier this year, with some stores already offering bargains as good as shoppers will find on Black Friday, without the hustle and bustle.

The other appeal to early shoppers is the return of layaway programs, in which customers gradually pay off items that the store holds until they are paid in full.

"Consumers like the idea of paying things off little by little," Burdalski said.

Most locally owned stores haven't jumped on the early-sale bandwagon.

Shop owners in downtown Hamburg and West Reading said they will start their sales on Black Friday, as they traditionally have.

But most chain retailers are convinced shoppers want an earlier start.

This year, because of the bad economy, that strategy is paying off for consumers looking to spread their Christmas purchases out over several weeks, said Cheryl Slavinsky, director of public relations for Rite Aid.

She said the drugstore chain is perfectly set up for that kind of shopping.

"People come in for their prescriptions once or twice a month, and they can buy a couple of gifts while they are there," she said.

Wal-Mart stores actually started rolling out a sampling of their Christmas specials in mid-October, with their Christmas shops officially opening Nov. 1, spokeswoman Anna Taylor said.

That's in part because a Wal-Mart customer survey conducted in October showed that more than 50 percent of mothers were going to try to have all their holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving, she said.

Wal-Mart is planning its biggest Christmas sale in the chain's history because of the bad economy, she said.

The risk of the early and frequent sales, though, is that shoppers become desensitized to the message, Ogden said.

"Three months of Christmas carols?" he asked. "Give me a break."

Originally Posted by sunflowers

why is TRU opening at midnight...to start the sale or just to let them in to stand around to 5am?

I don't know about TRU but I know Walmarts are staying open 24 hours because of the death that happened last year. Guess they're thinking it'll prevent people from being a mob?

I haven't really seen anything that I REALLY want or that I think is a great enough deal for me to deal with the crowds and stuff.

I like going to just watch the people and if I find anything I want, it's a bonus. I won't be able to go this year since I won't have anyone to watch my kids.

I havent really seen anything worth going out and getting yet.