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Retail Expert: Thanksgiving Day Shopping Here to Stay

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Friday, December 6, 2013   

PHOENIX – Black Friday and Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but the Christmas shopping season is far from over.

The National Retail Federation says Black Friday business was down a little more than 13 percent this year, but that's because Thanksgiving Day shopping was a hit.

Jerry O'Brien, executive director of the Kohl's Center for Retailing Excellence, says it looks like Turkey Day shopping is here to stay.

"The reason more stores were open this year is because they saw success in the stores that were open last year,” he explains. “I don't see any indication that that trend won't continue."

Kmart started the Thanksgiving Day shopping trend in Arizona, and was open all day on this year's holiday. Several other stores were open Thanksgiving evening for the first time this year.

A number of workers' rights groups and some shoppers led protests and boycotts against stores being open on Thanksgiving Day, saying it's wrong to force store employees to miss holiday time at home. But O'Brien says it looks like they're swimming against the tide.

"Well, I won't agree or disagree with them,” he says. “But what I'll say is retailers are just the last or the next in line of services that have been open.

“Restaurants have been open for a long time. Bars have been open, bowling alleys, movie theaters – this appears to be the next stage in that development."

In recent years, Small Business Saturday – the day after Black Friday – has become an important day for local retailers. O'Brien says there are a number of ways to think about how shopping affects the local economy.

"The national and international retailers hire people also, so I think everybody has to really look into how they feel about how important they think it is to have that local retailer,” he says. “The thing I would say is if you love having those small local retailers, it's important to shop there or you're going to lose them."

As to the constant barrage of advertising during the holiday shopping season, O'Brien points it's all about trying to make people shop sooner rather than later.

"There's a race to try to get to your wallet before you're empty," he says.

Some retailers say if they continue to promote Thanksgiving Day as the start of the holiday shopping season, it eventually will eclipse Black Friday in total sales.







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