Retailers seem bent on falling over each other to see who can have the earliest ever "Black Friday" opening this year, and now there's a new leader: Toys "R" Us will open its doors at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
Black Friday, traditionally the blockbuster shopping day after Thanksgiving, has been pushed earlier and earlier this year, finally biting firmly into Thanksgiving day. Best Buy, Macy's, Target and Kohl's all abandoned traditional 4 a.m. Friday openings earlier this month, and announced they'll open their doors right at midnight on Nov. 25.
Wal-Mart, the country's largest retailer, announced it would start offering doorbuster deals at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving, even earlier than the other stores. Gap, Inc. said about 1,000 of their Banana Republic, Old Navy, Gap and outlet stores would simply stay open on Thanksgiving, as they did last year.
Toys "R" Us had opened at 10 p.m. last year. Company officials said the decision was made with customers in mind.
Black Friday is truly the kickoff to the holiday shopping season, and we’re excited to welcome customers at Toys“R”Us stores across the country for what has become an annual tradition for many families after Thanksgiving dinner is finished," said chief marketing officer Greg Ahearn, in a statement.
Retailers are competing for every dollar this holiday season, at a time when the economy is shaky and holiday spending is forecast to rise somewhere around 2 to 3 percent, about half of last year's increase.
There may be backlash building, however. Despite the stores' insistence that customers like the earlier hours, emails and phone calls I've gotten certainly indicate a lot of consumers are fed up with Black Friday creep. And some retail employees, like this gentleman who's starting a petition against Target, are also saying enough is enough.
What do you think?