Early Bird Deals Add New Tradition To Turkey Day
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Turkey Day has become a story of two birds: the kind you eat and the early kind.
With fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, stores like Target, Best Buy and Toys "R" Us opened on Thanksgiving night.
And they were quickly stuffed with customers hungry for a bargain.
The National Retail Federation estimates 25 percent of people shopping this weekend are doing it on Thursday night.
At the Target store in Minnetonka, the first hour after the doors opened at 8 p.m. had shoppers rushing about for deals.
One man said he was there for a 50-inch TV on sale for $229. He added that he didn't think he was missing out on any holiday traditions.
"Most peoples' Thanksgivings start at like three o'clock, it's over at six o'clock," the man said. "I got here at six o'clock. I had a full Thanksgiving."
Over at Toys "R" Us, the doors opened even earlier, at 5 p.m. One family there said they came for their little boys, who want Skyline toys.
"Got it all planned out," one of them said.
Their strategy worked. They were out of the store in 15 minutes and saved about $150.
"We'll do it next year as well," they said.
Over at Kmart, the doors opened at 6 a.m. Thursday and they don't close until 10 p.m. Friday.
That seems to be the trend Americans are buying into: eating turkey and then consuming deals.
