BY TARA HETTINGER
Black Friday shoppers who are used to hitting the stores during the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. rush are going to have to set their clocks even earlier this year if they want to be the first to get the deals before those items disappear.
Many stores are moving up opening times to 4 a.m., 3 a.m. and one, Toys “R” Us, is opening at midnight. Trevor Jones, store manager at the Clarksville toy store, said previously Toys “R” Us opened at 5 a.m. on the day known as the kick-off to the holiday shopping season.
“We’re opening up earlier so we can have more sales and, basically, to assist families this year, we are going to have more items on sale as doorbusters than we’ve ever had before,” he said.
There’s another perk as well.
“From the 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. time frame, it was usually uncontrollably busy,” he said. “The theory is that if we spread that time out, it will make it safer for us, our employees and the people shopping.”
He said certain sales will start at midnight and others at 5 a.m. to help spread out the crowd.
For the first time, the Clarksville Old Navy store will open its doors at 3 a.m. on Black Friday.
“We’re basically trying to give everybody the opportunity to take advantage of the great deals we are going to have and we know how busy it is from the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. time period, so we’re giving customers a chance to come in earlier and beat the traffic,” said Phil Thomas, district manager for the clothing retailer..
George Whalin, president and CEO of California-based Retail Management Consultants, said there’s a different reason behind the new hours.
“Business is tough. It’s pretty simple. They are all trying to get more of the business,” Whalin said.
He said businesses have been very aggressive in the past month with promotions and pricing. He said the earlier hours follows that trend.
However, he said don’t expect this to make much of a difference.
“In the overall grand scheme of things, probably not,” Whalin answered when asked if the hours will help businesses.
For some, these new hours means new competition. J.C. Penney has been open at 4 a.m. for years, according to Clarksville Store Manager Mary Langerman. Now, Kohl’s and Sears are opening at the same time.
“We had the market. It wasn’t even advertised at first, but people found out about it ... it was so successful, insanely successful,” Langerman said.
However, she isn’t against others joining suit.
“That’s fine. Competition is good,” she said. “I tell you what, if we’re all opening up at 4 a.m., with Sears and Kohl’s, that’s more people shopping.”
As for the projections on how the season will turn out for retailers, some won’t talk. However, Langerman said she’s unsure of how this holiday season will rank compared to previous ones.
“I would like to say [it will be better], but I can’t ... We are in uncharted waters right now with the economy,” she said. “I’d be very happy to be even with last year ... I have to be optimistic about this year and this holiday.”
Once this holiday shopping season ends, Whalin said he doesn’t expect the trend to open earlier than 5 a.m. to remain intact for next year’s Black Friday.
“I don’t think so. In some cases that has brought a lot of people out, but not in all cases and not in all parts of the country,” Whalin said. “If the consumer starts to come back ... it may not make a lot of sense [to continue early hours]. We’ll see.”
