An Early Thanksgiving, Black Friday Begins

Thanksgiving came early this year. It was yesterday, Thursday October 29, 2009. The reason we know this is the after Thanksgiving shopfest known as Black Friday started today.

No doubt some of you who forgot to stuff yourselves with turkey and pumpkin pie yesterday are demanding proof of this occurrence. I can certainly oblige.

Please consider

Sears Starts Black Friday NOW! Promotion Today

Posted on 10/30/09 @ 7:56 am PT

Every week between now and Black Friday, Sears.com will have several doorbusters from their Black Friday ad available only for just a few hours. This week's sale runs from 5pm this afternoon until noon tomorrow (central time). Here are the doorbusters available this week:

Once again, these items will be on sale starting at 5pm CT today. You can also save $5 off a $50 purchase with coupon code SEARS5OFF50.

BlackFriday.Org has the following leaks.

Sears Black Friday Ad Leaked

October 27th 2009

The first major black Friday ad of 2009 has arrived and it's from Sears. This year Sears is having an incredible black Friday sale with over 599 doorbusters! Some of the doorbuster deals include a Panasonic Blu-ray Home Theater System for $399.99, a Kenmore 3.5-cu ft. High Efficiency Washer/Dryer Pair for $579.98, and a Kodak CD-80 10.2 MegaPixel Digital Camera (3x zoom, 2.4" LCD) for just $79.99.

Harbor Freight Black Friday Ad Released

October 26th 2009

Our third black Friday ad for 2009 has arrived and it's from Harbor Freight. We only received the few couple of pages of the advertisement but we expect to have the rest of it within a few days. Also, we should be posting the Ace Hardware, Sears, and Kmart ads within the next week or two, so be sure to check back or join our email list for the latest updates.

Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule Canada vs. US

Inquiring minds just might be interested in Canadian Thanksgiving calendar dates.



Is it any wonder the Canadian economy is in so much better shape than ours? Look at how many extra shopping days they get. This is outrageous. I propose we move Thanksgiving up to August 1 to rectify this anomaly and make up for some of the past lost shopping days in the US.

Over time our economy will recover if we leapfrog Canada now to make up for past lost shopping days, population adjusted. Once we are back on an even keel, I propose both countries settle on September 22 to keep our respective economies humming in sync.

Hint to new readers: please don't think I am serious.

Black Friday: How Much Will It Matter?

Marketing Daily is asking Black Friday: How Much Will It Matter?

In some ways, there's something comforting about the way retailers are gearing up for Black Friday, that make-or-break kickoff to the holiday season. Stores like Target are already shoving aisles of Christmas items in between the Halloween costumes. And advertising circulars are already being leaked to deal-finding websites, creating a buzz retailers count on to build traffic.

But there are also signs that this holiday season - the second consecutive year of dreary economics lessons - will be different.

Retailers, for the most part, will consider it a big win if they can sell at least as well as they did last year, Leon Nicholas, director of retail insight at Management Ventures, based in Cambridge, Mass., tells Marketing Daily, "We don't expect to see as many flashy price points, as more stores have locked in already-low pricing. I don't think we'll have the assortment we've had in the past. And in many ways, Black Friday is becoming more of a cultural event about browsing than buying, with people surfing the web for deals and ideas."

Stores are encouraging that, Phil Rist EVP/BIGresearch, says, "by making Black Friday earlier and earlier each year," with many events and web-only sales starting on Thursday. "We'll see even more of that this year."

But 86% of the shoppers in the survey say that unless they can get a discount of at least 20% or more, they won't buy. (In fact, a quarter of those say that unless discounts are in the neighborhood of 50%, they won't open their wallets.) And 38% say they shop late deliberately, because that's when they believe they will find the best bargains.

That may make for a bleak Black Friday. With so many consumers still worried about jobs, Nicholas says, "you may see them buying heavily at discounters, where they believe inventory will be limited. But while you may see a lot of people walking through stores like Macy's, they won't be buying yet. Retailers have trained them to wait longer."

Good News

If you forgot to have turkey and pie yesterday, please don't fret. You can do so every Friday between now and Friday, November 27 comfortable in the knowledge that some store will be announcing an early start to Black Friday.

Of course, retailers spreading this affair out are going to diminish the importance of it all. One Black Friday might be special, five consecutive black Fridays is another matter. How much turkey and pie can one eat? By the time the official Black Friday begins, people will be tired of turkey, turkey a la king, turkey pot pie, and flaming turkey wings.

However, this is a good thing. The more people that become numb to these marketing efforts the better off we will all be.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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