Rex Larsen | The Grand Rapids Press
Elaine Sherwood, of Middleville, leaves the Woodland Mall Sears store with pre-holiday bargains.
GRAND RAPIDS — It used to be that mapping out “Black Friday” plans was part of the Thanksgiving Day ritual.
Stuffed from their turkey feast, families would gather around sales ads and hone their shopping strategies for the next day.
But, more and more, savvy shoppers are putting together their Black Friday itinerary before they tackle their holiday menu. In fact, it’s getting harder to squeeze in the meal.
With more stores opening on Thanksgiving Day or starting earlier on Black Friday, families might be tempted to spend more time shopping or standing in line than basting the bird.
Shoppers who want to get a head start on their Black Friday planning are aided by plethora of retailer websites posting deals earlier than ever. Several — Macy’s, Sears, Target and Kohl’s — have leaked out.
Other retailers, such as Walmart and Home Depot, guard their deals under threat of legal action.
This year, Walker-based Meijer is giving a
sneak peek of its Black Friday ads
at
connect.Meijer.com
and through e-mail alerts, Facebook and Twitter.
“We are going to be more aggressive in terms of the quantity of some doorbuster items,” said Meijer spokesman Frank Guglielmi. “There is still going to be limits, but we’ll have more items than in years past.”
Meijer, with almost 200 stores in five Midwest states, also is bringing back its popular “doorbuster” coupon — introduced last year — which lets customers earn $30 or $50 coupons when they buy high-ticket items.
Joining Meijer and Kmart, Sears will be open for the first time on Thanksgiving Day.
The Thanksgiving doorbusters will be comparable to Black Friday, said spokesman Tom Aiello.
“The customers are very savvy,” he said. “If it’s not the 40 or 50 or 60 percent doorbusters they expect, they’ll let us know.”
The store will be open at 7 a.m. and close at noon Thanksgiving so employees and customers can spend time with their families, he said.
Toys “R” Us also will be open for business on Thanksgiving, but at the end of the day. The toy chain, which last year opened at midnight on Black Friday, has rolled back its doorbuster deals for a three-hour stretch: 10 p.m. Thursday to 1 a.m. Friday.
A few hours later, Kohl’s will open its doors at 3 a.m., an hour earlier than some of its competition, according to a leaked ad. A Kohl’s spokeswoman would not confirm the earlier start time.
Warren-based furniture chain Art Van will compete on the electronics front against Pontiac-based ABC Warehouse and “big box” retailers such as Best Buy with deep discounts on televisions. Art Van added Paul’s TV departments to its stores in the spring.
If you are a bargain-hunter, this shopping tradition can pay off, said Edgar Dworsky, of the consumer guide
consumerworld.org
, which posts tips on Black Friday shopping.
“My general sense about Black Friday is that it is really the best day to shop for bargains,” he said. “Particularly, doorbusters tend to be really good values.”
Retailers are extending Black Friday power shopping by branding sales leading up to the shopping event, from Kmart’s “Better than Black Friday” to Sears’ “Black Friday Now.”
While it will still take deep discounts to lure recession-trained shoppers, they are expected to spend more this year. Holiday sales are forecast to rise 2.3 percent, according to the National Retail Federation, after a negligible 0.4 percent bump last year and a dismal 3.9 percent decline in 2008.
Dworksy said he expects the hot deals to be toys, big-screen televisions, lower-end laptops and clothing.
“The little secret of Black Friday is that many items are online so you don’t have to go out with the crazy people waiting in line in the cold,” he said.
The only catch is that the preview ads don’t specify the doorbusters online so you might have to get up at 3 a.m. to click on the deal, he said.
But you can do it in your pajamas.
Sampling of Black Friday deals:
Best Buy: Verizon Samsung Fascinate smartphone $1 with new 2-year activation. Reg. $199.99 (Source:
Black-Friday.net
)
Kohl's — The Sharper Image Literati eBook reader $99.99 — after $30 mail-in rebate. Regularly $249.99. (Source:
Blackfriday.GottaDeal.com
)
Lowes — Dewalt cordless drill $99.99. Reg. $189 (Source:
thanksgivingblackfridayads.com
)
Macy's — U-Video digital camera $49.99. Reg. $100. (Source:
Dealtaker.com
)
Meijer — Sony Blu Ray disc player $99. Reg. $179.99 (Source:
facebook.com/meijer
)
Sears — Kenmore washer and dryer $599.98. Reg. $699.99 each. (Source:
theblackfriday.com
)
Target — Westinghouse 40-inch HDTV for $298. Reg. 549.99 (Source:
BlackFriday.info
)
Toys "R" Us — Android 2.1 Tablet $139.99. Reg. $199.99. (Source:
Black-Friday.net
)
E-mail Shandra Martinez:
smartinez@grpress.com
