DARKE COUNTY — This year’s Thanksgiving holiday and weekend will see families gathered and bellies filled. It will also see a lot of shopping in anticipation of Christmas.
According to a survey commissioned by the National Retail Federation (NRF), an estimated 164 million Americans are planning to shop or will consider shopping from Thanksgiving and Black Friday through Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
The NRF survey found that 20 percent of consumers plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day (32 million) but Black Friday will remain the busiest day with 70 percent planning to shop then (115 million). A substantial 43 percent are expected to shop on Saturday (71 million), with 76 percent saying they will do so specifically to support Small Business Saturday. On Sunday, 21 percent expect to shop (35 million) and 48 percent are expected to shop on Cyber Monday (78 million).
Over recent years, however, there has been a “backlash” of sorts by some consumers who feel Thanksgiving Day itself should be a time for food, family and friends — not shopping. As a result, some merchandisers are taking purposeful steps to refrain from opening their doors on Thursday, or at least reducing their business hours that day. Others will not open until the wee hours of Black Friday.
Among the shops which have announced they are not open Thanksgiving Day include: Ace Hardware, Babies R Us, Burlington, Costco, Dillard’s, Ethan Allen, Half Price Books, Harbor Freight, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, IKEA JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores, Jos. A. Bank, La-Z-Boy, Lowe’s, Marshalls, Mattress Firm, Menards, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Office Depot and OfficeMax, Party City, Petco, PetSmart, Pier 1 Imports, Sam’s Club, Sears Hometown Stores, Sears Outlet, Shoe Carnival, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Sprint, Staples, The Original Mattress Factory, TJ Maxx, and Tractor Supply.
Still, the appeal of holiday dollars is hard to resist. Regionally, here is a list of some of the larger retailers who will be open at various points Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday.
Bass Pro Shops – Thanksgiving 8 a.m. to 6 p.m
Best Buy – Thanksgiving 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Black Friday
Big Lots – Thanksgiving 7 a.m. to midnight
Cabela’s – Thanksgiving 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
CVS Pharmacy – Thanksgiving 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (pharmacy open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Dick’s Sporting Goods – Thanksgiving 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Black Friday
Dollar General – Thanksgiving 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Dunhams Sports – Thanksgiving 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Black Friday
Elder-Beerman – Thanksgiving 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Black Friday
JCPenney – Thanksgiving 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Black Friday
Kohl’s – Thanksgiving 5 p.m. to 1 p.m. Black Friday
Kmart – Opens 6 a.m.; Doorbusters Thanksgiving 6 p.m. to 2 p.m. Black Friday; Some stores to close at 12 a.m. or 2 a.m. and reopen at 6 a.m. Friday
Macy’s – Thanksgiving 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Black Friday or Thanksgiving 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Black Friday before reopening at 6 a.m. Friday. Doorbusters until Friday at 1 p.m.
Meijer – Thanksgiving 6 a.m.
Rite Aid – Thanksgiving 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (pharmacy open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
Sears – Thanksgiving 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Target – Thanksgiving 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Toys R Us – Thanksgiving 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Black Friday
Walgreens – Thanksgiving 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (pharmacy not open)
Walmart – Thanksgiving 6 p.m.
NRF says while many consumers will take advantage of deals over Thanksgiving weekend, 31 percent will refrain from shopping that weekend. Of those not planning to participate, 52 percent won’t shop because they do not enjoy the experience and 51 percent say they never shop during Thanksgiving weekend. Of those not shopping, 46 percent said nothing would change their mind but 27 percent said a good sale or discount on an item they want could get them to shop.
The survey, which asked 7,439 consumers about their shopping plans, was conducted October 31 to November 7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
