With marathon shopping day “Black Friday” less than 48 hours away, retailers are pulling out all the stops to attract customers to stores. Merchants hope to head off the weaker holiday forecasts with longer hours, more deals and creative advertising.
Twenty-four percent of consumers plan to shop Friday, according to a survey released Tuesday by Consumer Reports, an increase from the 20 percent that shopped on Black Friday last year.
“This is good news for retailers,” said Ed Farrell, associate director with Consumer Reports National Research Center.
Twenty-seven percent of women plan to shop, and 32 percent of those in the 18-34 demographic will head to the stores. Farrell has noticed stores “have started their holiday push earlier,” offering deals a few weeks ago that they might not usually offer until Black Friday.
Malls are also opening earlier this year. Macy’s at The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City will be open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., and the Macy’s at Metro Center will open an hour later, and stay open until 10 p.m.
“We’ve been more aggressive in having the malls open earlier,” said Les Morris, spokesman for Simon Property Group, which owns the Fashion Centre. Another Simon property, the Lessburg Corner Premium Outlets, will open at midnight.
Some department stores have “more extended hours than usual,” said Debbie Young, marketing director with the Westfield Wheaton. The mall itself opens at 6 a.m., but JCPenney will open at 4 a.m.
Staples, which will open at 6 a.m., will hand out in-store fliers with about 20 unadvertised deals to customers waiting in line, which will be valid until 10 a.m., according to Peter Scala, executive vice president of merchandising. Staples has 50 stores in the metro area that will stay open until 9 p.m. Best Buy will start handing out store maps and tickets for select items to customers at 4 a.m. and will open an hour later at 5 a.m. To entice early crowds, it will have coffee and donuts for people in line.
Some chains are using mobile technology to promote their sales. Staples is launching an ad on the mobile Web version of weather.com. Wal-Mart, which opens at 5 a.m., is sending text messages with special deal announcements on Friday and Saturday to customers who sign up in advance.
Some banks are even accommodating early shoppers. Commerce Bank will open all its retail locations at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.
