First Black Friday Ads Are Out As Shoppers Weigh In On Whether Stores Should Close On Thanksgiving
By Christy Strawser
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) It's real, and some would say, it's spectacular.
BestblackFriday.com revealed the first Black Friday ad circulars that have been produced. The first ad is for Dell and features doorbusters like a $149 laptop computer and a $299 XBox One console bundle that includes "Fallout Four," "GoW," an extra controller and headset.
The first ads are also out for smaller retailers Harbor Freight and Half Price Books, which are both closed on Thanksgiving and open, respectively, at 9 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Black Friday.
That dovetails with what appears to be a Black Friday trend for 2015. After years of earlier-than-ever openings on not only Black Friday but also Thanksgiving itself, more retailers are cutting back hours.
Staples will be closed on Thanksgiving, along with GameStop.
Why won't they be open on Thanksgiving? "GameStop ... had been opening at 12 a.m. on Black Friday morning but they pushed this back to 5 a.m. this year to give their employees more time with their family," explained Phil Dengler of BestBlackFriday.com. "Employee backlash appears to be the main reason for Staples being closed, but shoppers do not generally like Thanksgiving openings either."
Backing that up is a survey by Best Black Friday that showed 47 percent of shoppers believe stores should close on Thanksgiving, while 34 percent believed they should be open and 19 percent were undecided.
"All of these stores will have online sales on Thanksgiving though, so employees and consumers are happy and the store still gets to turn a little profit," Dengler added.
But consumer opinion aside, Dengler said he expects big stores such as Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Macy's, Kmart, etc., to remain open on Thanksgiving.
"It is just too competitive for these large stores, and while it is going to upset their employees, they cannot afford to close on Thanksgiving," Dengler said.
Kmart has opened at 6 a.m. in previous years on Thanksgiving, but most of the larger stores should open from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. this year, Dengler said.
No matter what time they arrive, when shoppers hit the big box stores and malls this year, they will more than likely find deeper discounts than usual, Dengler said.
These are his predictions for the biggest sales: There should be a laptop on sale somewhere for $94.99, a 32" HDTV for $70, a 40" HDTV for $110, a 50" TV for $175.
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 bundles will also see new lows, he said.
"We fully expect the PlayStation 4 to get a similar $299.99 price point announcement in the coming days," he said.
Tablets from non-premium brands will start at $5 after a deep rebate.
As for the digital world, he said he expects online shopping to continue to increase, and for sales to reach $1.5 billion online on Thanksgiving.
"Total (online and offline) Black Friday sales will fall a bit, but it is only because Thanksgiving is eating into it. Combined Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales will be up from 2014," Dengler predicted.
And the deals could start earlier than ever. Overall, pre-Black Friday sales are going to start around Nov. 1 with Amazon's Countdown to Black Friday sale as well as other stores having their pre sales.
His advice for people looking for something special to put under the Christmas tree is this: "Since ads have started to leak, shoppers should keep an eye out for the latest news, since Black Friday has really already started."