Thursday, November 10, 2011
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More Retailers Attack at 'Black Midnight' Holiday shoppers, say hello to Black Midnight. Best Buy Co. is joining the list of big store chains opening at midnight after Thanksgiving this year in hopes of getting a jump on the competition, following recent announcements by Target Corp., Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corp. Best Buy Chief Executive Brian Dunn, said he felt forced to "make a very difficult decision" and open at midnight because rival retailers were doing so, though the decision was controversial inside the company. "I feel terrible," said Mr. Dunn, who was once a store manager, speaking during a conference in San Francisco. "It will change some Thanksgiving plans for our employees. It certainly changes mine." Best Buy's move -- significant since the retailer specializes in big-ticket electronics likely to lure shoppers in the predawn hours -- leaves Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as one of the last mass merchants that has not announced it is offering "door-buster" specials as soon as the clock strikes 12 on Nov. 25. Wal-Mart wouldn't disclose its plans for this year, a spokesman said. But it has typically held off on selling its most hyped specials until 5 a.m. the morning after Thanksgiving, on what is known among retailers as "Black Friday." U.S. retailers traditionally considered Thanksgiving a de-militarized zone of sorts in their annual skirmish for shoppers' holiday dollars. But that has eroded over the past decade as more chains have extended hours and advertised early specials before Thanksgiving. Promotions weeks or even months in advance are now commonplace; for example, Wal-Mart held an early Black Friday style "Super Saturday" sale last weekend featuring free cupcakes and discounted toys and gadgets. Some retail experts say that store chains are fighting a losing battle to prolong a shopping rite that looks increasingly antiquated compared with the daily deals and flash sales offered by online rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. "Once one retailer goes early, the rest feel obligated to follow, and you have to wonder what gain there is for any of them," said Joel Bines, managing director of the global retail practice at consultancy AlixPartners. Many Wal-Mart stores are open 24 hours, and others opened at midnight on Black Friday last year to sell toys. But the company has thus far postponed selling its discounted flat-screen televisions and other mega deals until just before dawn. Toys "R" Us Inc. last year opened its doors on Thanksgiving night at 10 p.m., and reportedly will do so again this year. Walt Disney Co., which has opened some Disney Store locations at midnight on Black Friday for several years, said it is expanding early openings this year to 150 stores. Several retailers now open on Thanksgiving Day itself, including Gap Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp., and the moves by others to start the official Black Friday scramble at midnight mean that more deal seekers will now leave families and start lining up hours earlier on turkey day. Best Buy, which hopes to reverse five consecutive quarters of sales declines at U.S. stores open at least 14 months, said its early Black Friday activities would actually begin late Thanksgiving night at 9 p.m. with what Mr. Dunn said will be a movie screening of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," which will be released on video Nov. 11. Jane Anne Jarka, an inveterate Black Friday shopping ninja, said the shift to midnight openings is fine by her. The Garland, Texas, mother of two boys doesn't think it crowds into her holiday, she said, because she always gets dinner done early in order to map out her shopping route, and finds it difficult to sleep before hitting stores. "I get so anxious," she said, "so this is better for me." (Source: The Wall Street Journal, 11/07/11) Click here to email to client
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