From Toys R Us to Target to Walmart, retailers are opening as early as 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.
Toys R Us announced Monday that its Black Friday will begin on Nov. 22 when doors open at 8 p.m, an hour earlier than last year.
To entice shoppers to line up even earlier, the toy retailer will give the first 200 customers at each location a free “Great Big Goody Bag” full of stocking-stuffers up to $30 in value.
“You can have your dinner, then come to our store. We all know that everybody gets burned out on turkey and football,” says Troy Rice, chief of store operations, who expects stores to have lines from 500 to more than 1,000 people by the time doors open.
About 51% of consumers plan to go holiday shopping Thanksgiving weekend, according to a study out Monday from consulting firm Bain.
Opening earlier every year:
• Target. The discounter said Monday that doors will open earlier than ever at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, offering sales such as $199.99 Sony PS3 consoles and $49 Nook Simple Touch e-readers. From 4 a.m. to noon on the day after Thanksgiving, the retailer will give $10 gift cards to shoppers spending over $50 in some categories.
• Walmart. Target’s announcement follows Walmart’s last week saying its Black Friday will start on Thursday at 8 p.m., two hours earlier than last year. Door buster specials are said to include $150 Xbox 360, a 50 inch LCD television for $298, and 700 thread count sheet sets for $19.99
• Sears. Consumers can start shopping at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving and keep on going until 10 p.m. the next day, says Sears spokesperson Brian Hanover.
• Kmart. The discounter will be open from 6 a.m to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving, with a break for dinner until 8 p.m. after which stores are open until 3 a.m. Stores re-open two hours later on Friday morning, and stay open until 11 p.m. Kmart has opened on Thanksgiving since 1991.
Information from USA Today.com contributed to this report.