Black Friday will be celebrated, or shunned, by holiday shoppers on November 28, 2014. Weeks before the biggest shopping day of the year, an ad full of doorbuster deals has been leaked online. Shoppers who are hoping the first ad leak is from Walmart , Best Buy, or Target may be disappointed. Instead, Harbor Freight Tools announced its sale weeks ahead of other retailers.
1st Black Friday Ad leaked – Harbor Freight. FOX 26 is your BlackFriday/CyberMonday station. Start planning now, pic.twitter.com/a7iIcRieOc
— MyFoxHouston (@MyFoxHouston) October 15, 2014
If you’re completely devastated that the first Black Friday ad features deals on power tools, there is some consolation. WCPO in Cincinnati reports that Harbor Freight won’t be opening until 7 a.m. on November 28. While it has the distinction of being the first retailer to release a Black Friday ad, it won’t be the first store to open for holiday shoppers.
CNBC reports that Macy’s will kick off their doorbuster deals a day early this year. Most stores will open at 6 p.m., two hours earlier than the retailer’s opening time last year. Expect the other big box stores to follow suit or, at the very least, open at midnight on Black Friday.
In 2013, Walmart was open all day on Thanksgiving, with deals staggered throughout the day. Best Buy opened its doors to shoppers at 5 p.m., with many shoppers opting to gobble down their turkey dinner early so they could go grab deals on flat screen TVs and laptop computers. Target opened at 8 p.m. on Turkey Day, with online sales starting earlier in the day.
Black Friday is coming up soon. pic.twitter.com/KSTWXSeEhQ
— The White Rabbit (@TheWhiteRabit1) October 7, 2014
Mark Huffman from Consumer Affairs writes that holiday shoppers may be spending more than ever during this year’s Black Friday sales , citing an Accenture holiday shopping survey. The survey indicates that 25 percent of consumers plan to spend more money on gifts than they did last year, with the average consumer spending “an estimated $718 on gifts.”
Will they all shop on Black Friday (or at many stores, Black Thursday) or will consumers skip the big sale day and find bargains throughout the holiday shopping season? Huffman writes that two-thirds of those surveyed plan to start their shopping on Black Friday — a figure that’s up 55 percent from 2013. Two-thirds of respondents say they plan to shop on the official kick-off to the shopping season, up from 55 percent last year.
Will you be shopping on Black Friday, or even earlier, on Thanksgiving Day?
[Image: Telegraph UK]