Good or bad, some are thankful for stores opening early for Christmas gift shopping

The National Retail Federation predicts shoppers will spend $630.5 billion this holiday season.
The National Retail Federation predicts shoppers will spend $630.5 billion this holiday season.

Through the decades, the Black Friday shopping experience has become as much of a holiday ritual as the Thanksgiving turkey the day before.

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AP

Black Friday is no longer the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, with several major retailers opting to open Thanksgiving Day.

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Black Friday Shopper Illustration

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Shoppers wait to enter the Toys R Us in North Little Rock on the evening of Thanksgiving 2014 in anticipation of snagging some Black Friday specials.

Planning a shopping strategy used to be as easy as pumpkin pie. Once the leftovers were refrigerated, the mountain of dishes were done, and the silverware was hand washed, dried, and put back into its wooden chest, it was time for the ladies of the house to map out their next day's shopping plans with the Thanksgiving Day newspaper, as plump and overstuffed as the bird they'd roasted. One by one, they thumbed through the supplements, circling items they were seeking to score and creating a list for each store.

Mothers and daughters, sisters and friends charted their courses. And today, many still do so.

"I'm going with my 25-year-old son this year for the first time," says Theresa Main-Kyzer of Furlow. "We are definitely going to make a plan since we have a couple 'must-have' items. We will look at the sale papers and see what else we might want."

Others venture to the stores because they enjoy the experience itself; the hustle and bustle of the sales.

"I usually do not have any idea why I am Black Friday shopping," says Brenda Jackson Staton of Sherwood. "I just love going with my friends for a night on the town. After we look through the sales papers, then a plan is made."

Meanwhile the stores and malls are busy making their own Black Friday plans.

One of central Arkansas' newest -- The Outlets of Little Rock -- will open at midnight on Thanksgiving to usher in Black Friday, says Kila Owens, mall spokesman. "The first 250 in line will get an Outlets of Little Rock bag with coupons and more. Random bags will include gift certificates and other prizes for shoppers ages 18 and over."

The history of Black Friday is a little muddled but its roots lie in where on the calendar the day fell -- the day right after Thanksgiving when shoppers' thoughts turned to Christmas and gift giving.

Since the 1980s, an often-repeated explanation of Black Friday is that it is the first day of the year when retailers began to show a profit, going from

being in the red to being in the black.

In reality, the Philadelphia Police Department in the late 1950s dubbed the unpleasant day Black Friday. Traffic police in the city worked 12-hour shifts battling traffic snarls and extra pedestrians on the streets as suburbanites descended on the city for shopping and the Army-Navy game.

"It was not a happy term," Michael Lisicky, a retail historian, told CBS Philly in 2011. "The stores were just too crowded, the streets were crowded, the buses and the police were just [overwhelmed] ... ."

As with most things, even long-held traditions like Black Friday shopping, evolve.

New developments, including ever-expanding technology (the Internet and cellphones), and tragic incidents since 2005 (in which shoppers from California to New York and places in between were injured or killed in stampedes and fights) have diluted or tainted the Black Friday shopping experience.

"I hate the crowd and the madness," says Alan Rackley of Little Rock. "It's not worth risking my life for a $100 TV."

Others, like Lou Thompson of Floyd, say they will still venture into stores -- but wait for the rush to subside.

"I'll probably wait until a few days after, when all the crowd are gone," Thompson says.

Retailers hear what their customers are saying and they are responding accordingly. This year, several have begun offering "Black Friday" deals early.

The Nov. 8 issue of the Democrat-Gazette included inserts from at least three advertisers for that week -- Academy Sports offering its "Black Friday Kickoff," The Home Depot advertising its "Black Friday Savings -- Let's Jump-Start the Savings" and Office Depot's "Early Black Friday Deals."

J.C. Penney has been offering a lot of 50 percent-off-retail prices since earlier this month on several items, including a popular Christmas gift -- name-brand micro-fleece women's pajamas which, combined with a 20 percent-off coupon, lowered the bill even more.

Matthew Shay, chief executive officer and president of National Retail Federation, says there are three top reasons for the Black Friday evolution, which began in 2014 with the sales event becoming less concentrated, and deeper discounts being spread out among several days and weeks instead of a single day. The changes occurred due to the economy improving, retailers offering earlier holiday discounts, and consumers becoming more discerning.

"Consumers are more savvy and sophisticated than ever before," he says. "The recession had a tremendous impact on how consumers shop ... they have a few more dollars in their wallets but that doesn't mean they aren't going to be smart about how and when they spend."

Retailers also seem to be responding to those who were critical of stores opening in recent years on Thanksgiving Day. While some will still open on the holiday, many won't do so until 5 p.m. or later. Meanwhile, consumers can shop those stores and others earlier on Thanksgiving Day online.

After the initial shopping rush of Black Friday has come and gone, many retailers are expected to continue to offer some good deals, when more hesitant shoppers will be more inclined to venture into the stores.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart will offer fewer Black Friday events this year. Instead, the Arkansas-based retailer will post more deals on its mobile app.

"The store is striving to offer customers a more simplified shopping experience," says Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer of Wal-Mart U.S., adding that 96 percent of the inventory found in stores will also be available online.

Black Friday kicks off what retailers consider their most profitable time. The holiday season, defined by the National Retail Federation as sales in November and December, is the biggest time of year for retailers and can account for as much as 30 percent of a retailer's annual sales.

It is predicted that shoppers will spend about $630.5 billion this year, the federation says, adding that 46 percent of their Christmas shopping will be done online.

In 2014, the average consumer spending on Christmas gifts, decor and other holiday-related items was $802, the federation says. Some 87 million people shopped on Black Friday, and an estimated 127 million consumers shopped on Cyber Monday (with 25 million of those shoppers saying they used their mobile devices to do so).

And 33 percent of holiday shoppers said they shopped specifically on Small Business Saturday. The day following Black Friday is designed to encourage consumers to shop at local businesses, eschewing national outlets.

"We don't have anything officially or formally planned but we will all be open that day and would certainly appreciate the business," says Jessica Davis, president of the Hillcrest Merchants Association in Little Rock.

Style on 11/24/2015

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