Thanksgiving…the new Black Friday?

More businesses including the local Fred’s and Walmart opened their doors on Thanksgiving Day to offer customers an opportunity to get a jump-start on Black Friday specials.
While some folks spent the holiday at home, a multitude of shoppers took advantage of the early sales. However, the big-chain store Walmart contends that Black Friday is still the most profitable day for retail stores.
Steve Bratspies, Chief Merchandising Officer for Walmart said on Monday, “Black Friday is still the best shopping day of the year, and this year was no exception for Walmart. Traffic was steady all night long in stores across the country as customers took advantage of our great deals. And because our approach to inventory was to buy deep on many of the hottest items, we had more items available at the best prices. Phones, toys, gaming consoles, cookware and TVs were some of the most popular items for customers both in store and online.
Bratspies finished with, “For so many of our customers, our Black Friday event is an annual tradition for holiday shopping with friends and family. They count on the event and the savings as a part of their celebration, and I want to acknowledge the many hard-working Walmart associates who helped us put on such an exceptional event for customers. It could not happen without our associates. Thank you for all you do to deliver for our customers.”
It wasn’t just brick-and-mortar stores that saw increases in sales, according to published reports, more than $6.22 billion was spent online by the end of Black Friday. That’s an increase of more than 23% over last year.
With larger numbers than normal for online shopping and Black Friday, Thanksgiving Day won’t take over as the number one shopping day of the year anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean that retailers won’t stop trying.