Black Friday no longer just about Friday

The day after Thanksgiving, dubbed Black Friday, supposedly marks the start of the holiday shopping season — but more and more retailers seem unwilling to wait until then.

Sears has been offering what it calls “Black Friday Now” deals — albeit on Saturdays — for weeks. Though Wal-Mart officially begins its Black Friday sale at 5 a.m. Friday, it already has slashed prices on select toys and other items to what it says are Black Friday levels. Similarly, Best Buy has cut prices on some home theater products to “Black Friday pricing.” Online, Amazon.com began a week of Black Friday deals on Monday.

“I think with the current economic climate that retailers are having to get on that bandwagon earlier and earlier to attract those Black Friday shoppers, and if they can get them in even sooner than Black Friday, then they’ll do whatever they can,” said Deanna DeLarge, marketing coordinator for the Promenade Shops at Briargate in northern Colorado Springs.

For those retailers actually waiting until Friday to hold Black Friday sales, the day keeps getting longer. Toys R Us will open its stores at midnight Thursday — five hours earlier than last year. Kohl’s, Sears and J.C. Penney at least offer Black Friday shoppers a chance to get a few hours of sleep; they all open their doors at 4 a.m. Friday. Best Buy and Target are among stores opening at 5 a.m.

Don’t care about sleep? The Outlets at Castle Rock will celebrate its third year of holiday Moonlight Madness, now expanded to nearly 24 hours of shopping — from 10 p.m. Thursday to 9 p.m. Friday.

“It’s kind of an adventure, and something different to do, especially for women maybe who have had their fill of football for the day,” said Allison Towe, general manager of the Outlets at Castle Rock.

In Colorado Springs, Chapel Hills Mall opens at 6 a.m. Friday, The Citadel opens at 8 a.m. and the Promenade Shops at Briargate at 9 a.m., though some stores at the shopping centers will open earlier.

At the Promenade Shops at Briargate, Black Friday has been “reimagined” as Fabulous Friday, DeLarge said.
“We thought there was sort of a fatigue setting in with shoppers,” she said. So Fabulous Friday will feature not just sales, but also family fun — including Santa, face painters, free chair massages at Kirk & Hill and an appearance by Homer, the young llama rescued from Pikes Peak this  summer.

Despite the early start by some to Black Friday, DeLarge thinks the day itself is still significant and will draw crowds looking for bargains. For those shoppers hoping for even better deals later in the season, she offers a warning.

Stores, she said, “are pulling out all the stops to attract people right now, as opposed to seeing what the holiday season is going to bring. So I would tell people to jump on those deals right when they see them.”

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