THANKSGIVING STORE HOURS
These are nationally announced hours; check local store listings for exact hours
Best Buy Stores — Open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving until 10 p.m. on Friday.
J.C. Penney — Open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving until 9 p.m. on Friday.
Kohl's — Open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving until midnight on Saturday.
Macy's — Open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving until about 10 p.m. on Friday at most stores
Sears — Open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving until 10 p.m. on Friday.
Kmart — Open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving until 11 p.m. on Friday.
Target — Open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving until 11 p.m. on Friday.
Toys"R"Us — Open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving until 10 p.m. on Friday.
Wal-Mart — Open 24 hours at most stores. Deals begin at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
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As more retailers are opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day to get a head start with Black Friday shoppers, some consumers worry the shopping frenzy has gone too far and is threatening a traditionally family-focused holiday.
Retail experts are projecting that 33 million Americans will begin their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Day this year as more stores than ever have announced special “Black Friday” deals one day early.
That is down from the number of Thanksgiving Day shoppers last year. The overall holiday spending forecast is for Ohio holiday spending to rise 3.5 percent this year. Sales in November and December nationally are expected to rise a “marginal” 3.9 percent from this time last year.
“I’m not leaving my family to go do that,” Wendi Strine, of Fairfield, said about shopping on Thanksgiving Day. “It’s just not important.”
Strine, who considers herself a bargain shopper, said she looks forward to Black Friday every year, but won’t be going to the stores this year until Friday because “it’s just too out of control. It’s the consumers who have to say, ‘Hey, enough is enough.’”
Strine and others say they object to stores opening on Thanksgiving Day mainly out of sympathy for workers who would have to forgo their family celebrations.
Some people have even created and shared badges on social media declaring their pledge to not shop on Thanksgiving in support of workers.
“If I’m shopping, someone else is working and NOT spending time with their family,” one such badge declares.
According to a survey by the Georgetown Institute of Consumer Research released Nov. 14, more than 17 percent of Americans plan to go shopping after their Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. That’s compared to 47 percent of respondents who said they will take a nap post-dinner.
But the majority of those who plan to pursue Thanksgiving deals said they will start shopping on Black Friday — 69 percent according to the National Retail Federation.
The NRF’s annual survey asked shoppers about their Thanksgiving Day shopping plans for the first time this year and found that 24 percent of those that plan to shop this weekend intend to do so on Thursday.
“I use to go out on Black Friday. And I would complete most of my shopping on that day,” said Joyce Johnson Boyd of Middletown on the Journal-News Facebook page. “But I’m finding as I get older… each year seems to get worse.”
According to the NRF, more than 35 million Americans visited retailers’ stores and websites on Thanksgiving in 2012, up from 29 million in 2011. The NRF estimates that seven out of 10 Thanksgiving Day shoppers this year will be people who also shopped on the holiday last year.
Some that do plan to shop on Thanksgiving cited saving money as a big draw.
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