Why wait? Stores in Little Rock get jump on sales

Geneva Vaughn (right) shows a Black Friday deals catalog to Bryant Smith (left) and other shoppers waiting in line for more than 12 hours Thursday to enter the Best Buy store in North Little Rock.
Geneva Vaughn (right) shows a Black Friday deals catalog to Bryant Smith (left) and other shoppers waiting in line for more than 12 hours Thursday to enter the Best Buy store in North Little Rock.

While some people gathered around a table with family and friends to dine on roasted turkey and stuffing Thanksgiving Day, others headed to stores that advertised door-buster deals, and bargain-price TVs and toys.



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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Joel Blevins (left) and Jared Corsby, both of Prairie Grove, wait Thursday outside of Target in Fayetteville. The pair began to wait around 10:30 and were the second and third people there. They were both interested in getting deals on electronics. For more photos, go to www.nwadg.com/photos.

In recent years, retailers earlier and earlier have rolled out deals they traditionally offered on Black Friday. And this year was no exception.

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the start of the period when companies start to show profits. For years many have considered Black Friday the start of the holiday shopping season. But it is losing some of its impact now as retailers rush to get customers into their stores earlier, and many consumers turn to computers to shop online.

Consumers, concerned about the economy and flat wages, have become more cautious spenders, analysts say.

"Now the trend is really moving away from any pretense that it's going to happen on Friday, to where there's online deals on Black Friday week," said Steven Barr, U.S. retail and consumer leader for Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

"Plenty of retailers will have a very important focus on Black Friday, but because the retail landscape has become so competitive, they've had to start earlier and earlier," he said.

Among people sitting outside a Best Buy in Little Rock at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day was James Stuckey. He was on either his ninth or 10th hour of the wait.

"This is my first year," he said, calling himself a "Black Friday virgin."

Stuckey of Chicago was among about 14 people gathered outside the Best Buy on Chenal Parkway.

There were others who were sleeping in their cars. The store was to open at 5 p.m.

"Stores opening on Thanksgiving is all right," Stuckey said.

"I used to work for Wal-Mart and had to work on Thanksgiving."

Stuckey, who was in line with some family members, was near the front of the line. On one side of him, "Uncle Elroy" sat in a folding chair.

Uncle Elroy, who had just woken up, arrived even earlier than Stuckey on Wednesday to "inspect" the store and claim his spot as first in line.

"I would prefer they didn't open on Thanksgiving," he said groggily.

Nearby, several women sat around a table under a tent. Coupons and store promotions covered the top of the table, and one woman told others about how she cooked a Thanksgiving meal for her husband late Wednesday night before telling him: "See you later!"

Open Thanksgiving Day

The National Retail Federation expects sales in November and December to increase 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion.

Holiday sales in 2014 gained 4.1 percent compared with the previous year.

About 29 percent of Christmas shoppers started hitting the stores before Thanksgiving this year, and only 26 percent will shop this week, leaving most consumers doing their shopping in December, according to the 2015 Holiday Outlook report by Pricewaterhouse.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. began offering Black Friday deals online at 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning and started in-store sales at 6 p.m.

Another store that opened Thanksgiving Day was Target at 6 p.m.

Some retailers refused to open on Thanksgiving Day. They have instead decided to wait until today to offer their deals. Among them is Dillard's Inc., which will open at 8 a.m.

"We're a company with a very rich family heritage, and family is very important to Dillard's and we believe our associates need that time at home with their families before they go the extra mile in the next few weeks," spokesman Julie Bull said.

Stores prepare

While there was a growing crowd outside Best Buy early Thanksgiving morning, most stores in Little Rock were quiet.

At the nearby Target on Chenal Parkway, a barricade set up outside the store marked where customers were expected to wait in line. By noon only an empty chair sat in the area.

The chair belonged to Connie Johnson, who arrived at 11:30 a.m. and was waiting in her car until other shoppers started showing up.

Johnson, 47, moved to Little Rock from Michigan in September.

When she moved, her family forgot to ship her television with her furniture, Johnson said.

So she was waiting for Target to open so she could buy a 55-inch TV that the retailer had listed on sale for about $279.

Johnson, who called herself a professional Black Friday shopper, was planning to further reduce the cost of the television by using a $100 gift card that she got the previous night when she bought her daughter an Apple Watch.

While some people are happy shopping on Thanksgiving Day, others aren't -- and that's perfectly fine, Johnson said, adding, "Don't knock me for going out here on Thanksgiving Day."

Feeling the bite

Consumers with smaller incomes plan to spend less than they did last year and will search for deals that give them the most for their money, Barr said.

"What's unfortunately happened is we have a large portion of the U.S. population ... that still has not felt the benefit of the economic recovery," Barr said.

"There are clear signs of health for the overall U.S. economy, but those signs of health haven't made it into the bank accounts or pocket books of the consumer."

Also making some retailers anxious about this Christmas shopping season is that they only recently reported disappointing quarterly financial results.

During the third quarter, many retailers fell short of earnings and growth estimates.

Among them is Dillard's Inc., which saw its third-quarter profit fall 17 percent to $45.7 million. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which saw same-store sales rise, also reported a 10.8 percent decline in earnings from a year ago at $3.3 billion.

As for the holiday sales push, "all of this is retailers making sure that if customers are going to spend a dollar, they are going to spend it at their store," said Neil Stern, senior partner at McMillanDoolittle, a retail consulting company.

"Retailers are anticipating a tougher Christmas season this year. Sales going into the holiday have not been strong. I think they are trying to spur consumers into shopping," he said.

A Section on 11/27/2015

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