Retailers Start Black Friday Sales Early

by Doug Desjardins

Something that started in 2009 as an almost desperate attempt to drum up sales in a down economy is rapidly becoming a retail staple: the pre-Black Friday sale.

Retailers ranging from Amazon.com to Best Buy held sales on Halloween weekend to kick off the holiday shopping season earlier than ever. Analysts say the growth of early Black Friday sales is a sign that retailers are willing to try something new to grab a bigger share of holiday sales, which are expected to jump anywhere from 2 percent to 3.5 percent this year.

“They (retailers) are competing against people on the Internet and competing against people in other states,” said Pat Donoho, president of the Maryland Retailers Association. “The competition is broad and the deals are contingent on driving traffic.”

Leading the way is Sears, which began its “Black Friday Now” promotion on Oct. 29. The weekend-long sale was the first of four Black Friday Now sales leading up to the real Black Friday on Nov. 26. Doorbuster items included a 40-inch RCA LCD TV marked down from $569 to $499 and luggage discounted from $99 to $29.

Amazon countered with its own early Black Friday sales the same day. Amazon’s deals included an Archos 5 Android Tablet laptop for $309 – marked down from $442 – and a Canon wireless printer for $139, marked down from $199.

Best Buy launched an early Black Friday promotion Halloween weekend with a super-low price on the HP Compaq CQ62-215LX Laptop for just $349, marked down from a regular price of $479.

Apparel retailer Kohl’s also got off to an early start with a three-day sale that kicked off its budget-conscious “Give, Save and Be Merry” holiday theme.

“We expect that consumers will take a responsible, resourceful approach to holiday gifting this year as the economic environment remains uncertain,” said Kohl’s president and CEO Kevin Mansell.

Not all retailers started their Black Friday sales Halloween weekend, but most are planning some type of early start. JC Penney is launching its series of pre-Black Friday sales on Nov. 6 with its `Biggest Sale of Them All.’ It plans to follow that with a “Huge Sale” on Nov. 17 and a “Pre-Thanksgiving Sale” on Nov. 24.

Target plans to hold a four-day sale event the week of Thanksgiving as a precursor to its Black Friday sale. The retailer also announced it will give Black Friday shoppers who spend more than $100 before 10 a.m. a $10 Target gift certificate toward future purchases.

Staples is planning a similar four-day sale the week of Thanksgiving with prices marked down up to 50 percent as a lead-in to its standard Black Friday sale.

Resources

Black Friday Sales Come Early at Some Stores

Black Friday Deals are Coming Early this Year

Kohl’s, Macy’s Target in Black Friday Mode