Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 8:24 AM EST Nov 22, 2019
Are you ready? A few bits of advice for Black Friday shoppers.
You don’t have to wait for deals
While plenty of stores open around dusk on Thanksgiving Day, this upcoming Thursday, you can often get the same stuff online hours or days earlier. Kohl’s, for example, opens its stores at 5 p.m. Thursday. But some of its sale items will be online at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and some doorbusters will be online at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. JCPenney opens at 2 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, but access to its deals starts online 14 hours earlier, as the clock strikes midnight. It’s also worth peeking in stores the day before Thanksgiving. You might get lucky. In years past, for example, Macy’s put its $19.99 boots out on the shelves Wednesday evening.
Use your tech
Your phone is your best asset in finding the lowest prices. Get text alerts from places like Best Buy. Follow stores on social media. Download a price comparison app, like BuyVia or ShopSavvy, to scan barcodes while shopping. Camelcamelcamel.com tracks prices on Amazon items.
Yes, expect lines
Despite the backlash from those who object to commerce clashing with Thanksgiving, plenty of stores open on the holiday. Lots of people will show up. That’s especially true when a rock-bottom deal is advertised in limited quantities or as “in-store only.” If shopping patterns from recent years hold true, Friday pre-dawn openings will draw very long lines of shoppers at places like Fleet Farm, opening at 5 a.m., and Menards, opening at 6 a.m.
Make a game plan in advance
Veteran Black Friday shoppers say it pays off, in time and money, to map out a shopping timeline and most desired purchases. Flyers in the Thanksgiving Day newspaper give an overall view. Individual store websites give more details, like store layout maps and early looks at Black Friday ads. Forget all this if you’re only heading out to stores Thanksgiving night to hang out with friends and family, or to get away from a house full of relatives.
Don’t think of Black Friday as one day
The Black Friday term has morphed into an all-month sale for everything from kitchen appliances and mattresses to cars and trucks. Shoppers, likewise, have spread out their holiday spending. Some shop year-round and have already finished. They’re waiting for Dec. 26 clearance sales to get started on Christmas 2020. Don’t hate them. Follow their lead and remember where you stashed off-season purchases.
Bankruptcy and competition changed Black Friday
Over the last two years, bankruptcy cleared out major Black Friday players like Shopko, Toys R Us, Younkers and local Sears stores. Black Friday powerhouses that are still standing include Best Buy, Target, Macy’s, JCPenney, Scheels, Walmart and Kohl’s. This year, Bed Bath & Beyond will open for the first time ever on Thanksgiving, at 5 p.m., “to offer customers a jumpstart on Black Friday shopping and savings.” What’s really happening: stores open early to get a jump on their competitors and snag your dollars before anyone else can.
Timing is everything
With Thanksgiving falling late on the calendar this year, there are six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas compared to last year. That could mean a game of chicken between you and the stores. If inventory isn’t moving, retailers chop prices closer to Christmas. But you want a popular toy —maybe a Baby Shark puppet, Blume doll, the latest L.O.L Surprise! dolls or accessories, or anything from Frozen 2 — you may have to grab it when you see it.
If Black Friday crowds aren’t your thing, no problem
Small Business Saturday arrives the next day, and plenty of local shops will be thrilled to see you coming. Appleton’s merchants band together for a Shop Small passport promotion that hands out prizes. Cyber Monday arrives Dec. 2, kicking off a week of online deals. More people are excited about Cyber Monday deals (53 percent) than Black Friday deals (44 percent), according to a Deloitte survey. With online shopping growing every year, plenty of people won’t venture out at all on this busiest shopping weekend of the year. They’ll cozy up by the fireplace to shop with a laptop.
Contact Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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