No need to wait for Black Friday

Black Friday came early for consumers this year.

For many holiday shoppers, Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving—is the official start of the holiday shopping season. It's a day when retail stores offer "doorbuster" deals and discounts to put them in the black.

But with the country enduring a recession and unemployment rates rising, retailers are getting a head start this holiday shopping season by offering Black Friday-like deals before Black Friday.

Retailers like Old Navy and Sears began offering competitive consumer discounts weeks ago.

During the first week of November, Old Navy stores advertised savings of up to 50 percent off all outerwear items and followed the second week with a buy-one-get-one-free sale on fleece jackets.

Sears stores began offering pre-Black Friday savings as early as Oct. 31 with Sears' weekly "Black Friday Now" deals. These deals continue every Saturday until Christmas and include "doorbuster" items, such as a $650 42-inch Zenith Plasma TV offered at $499 and 50 percent off Craftsman tool sets and exercise equipment.

"It's a recent trend that retailers are putting out their promotions early," said Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. "But it's the first time we've seen actual holiday promotions as early as July," like Toys 'R' Us' "Christmas in July" deals.

Last year, the economy went from bad to worse in a matter of weeks, Grannis said. Retailers misjudged how the recession would influence customer shopping and, in a last minute panic to push merchandise out the door, began aggressively slashing prices days before Christmas.

This year, retailers are advertising early promotions and offering month-long discounts in an attempt to avoid a repeat of last year. But according to Grannis, it's unclear how many customers are taking advantage of these early savings.

Marlene Billet, a retired stepmother of five and grandmother of eight, began her holiday shopping Nov. 12 at Potomac Mills.

"If they're having good sales, get it now," said Billet. "If it's something I really like, I think if I wait until [Black Friday] it will be gone."

The National Retail Federation, which has deemed this holiday shopping season "the holiday season of the serious bargain hunter," predicts the down economy will impact two-thirds of families this holiday season. According to a survey conducted by NRF, consumers are expected to spend an average of $682.74 on holiday shopping this year, down three percent from $705 in 2008.

"I definitely won't be spending as much this year," said 33-year-old consultant Rose Long.

Long is the mother of three boys, two 7-year-old twins and one 9-year-old. So it came as no surprise to her when she learned that the number one item on her kids' Christmas list was a Sony PlayStation 3 game console, offered at $299.

But given the current state of the economy, Long said she will be cutting back on buying holiday gifts.

"I will be reducing gifts for both kids and others," she said.

And despite several pre-Black Friday deals offered by retailers, Long plans to hold out on holiday shopping until Black Friday, when she expects even better deals.

"I will be looking for buy one get one free deals, as well as buy something get a free gift card deals," Long said.

Potomac Mills is hoping to lure shoppers like Long into the mall on Black Friday with sales and giveaways.

Emily Taubel, assistant director of mall marketing at Potomac Mills, said the mall will stick to the same program as last year. She said the mall will open at midnight on Nov. 27 and close at 10 p.m. Although she wouldn't give some of the mall's Black Friday "doorbuster" deals, Taubel said deals will be posted to the mall's Web site at http://www.potomacmills.com on or days before Thanksgiving.

For holiday shoppers dreading the crowds of Black Friday, the savings will continue online on Cyber Monday, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving. According to Shop.org, the digital division of NRF, retailers will be expanding their e-holiday deals this year.

Cyber Monday shoppers can expect an increased use of social media platforms among retailers, such as Facebook and Twitter, free shipping on more items and early e-holiday savings that will continue through December.

According to cybermonday.com, a Web site managed by Shop.org and regarded as the official Cyber Monday Web site, retailers will offer hourly specials and discounts for online shoppers throughout the day, but only at cybermonday.com. More than 550 retailers have partnered with cybermonday.com to offer these deals, including Target.com, Homedepot.com, Apple.com and Barnesandnoble.com to name a few. To take advantage of these hourly deals, consumers must sign up online at cybermonday.com.

Rockhelle Johnson is a copy editor at the News & Messenger.