Twitter 
Shoppers stop to look at a display while shopping at Dadeland Mall, in Miami on November 25, 2011. (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Thanksgiving is early this year, and so are Black Friday deals. Home Depot launched its first pre-Black Friday deals last Friday – three weeks before the official launch of the holiday shopping season!
Target will open its doors at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving – three hours earlier than a year ago – to kick off the holiday shopping season.
The discounter joins several other major retailers, including Wal-Mart, that are opening earlier in the evening on the holiday and staggering their deals over the two-day period.
Over the years, stores have been expanding their hours on Black Friday to get ahead of the competition, but the kickoff is increasingly happening right after shoppers finish their turkey feast.
Wal-Mart said last week that it will begin its holiday sale at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, two hours earlier than last year. It then will have two more rounds of sales events including a 10 p.m. sale on electronics and another sale at 5 a.m. the next day.
Sears stores will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and will stay open overnight until 10 p.m. Friday. Last year Sears stores were closed on Thanksgiving. The company’s Kmart stores have been open on Thanksgiving for years.
Lord & Taylor, which was closed on Thanksgiving last year, will be open on the holiday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Kohl’s and Macy’s will again throw open their doors at midnight, following Thanksgiving. J.C. Penney plans to announce its Black Friday promotions on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Guest:
- Kelli Grant, senior consumer reporter for SmartMoney.com and MarketWatch. She tweets @kellibgrant.
