Despite some pushback from consumers and staffers about Black Friday deals creeping into Thanksgiving, there are already signs that indicate even more retailers will again open their doors for Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving. For example, Macy's will open four hours earlier than last year, while JCPenney will commence a full 10 hours earlier.
And just this morning, both Kmart and Sears weighed in as well; Kmart announced that its stores will open at 6 am on Thanksgiving — the earliest confirmed time we've seen yet this year — while Sears has opted for the now-standard 8 pm. Interestingly, despite the clamor about earlier and earlier hours, our archives show that Kmart has opened at 6 am on Thanksgiving since at least 2010. However, last year, the store made sure to close from 4 pm until 8 pm on Thanksgiving, likely as a break for its employees. This year, Kmart will remain open straight through until 11 pm on Black Friday.
Even if a store is hesitant to start its commercial sales on a national holiday, the demand to be first and remain strong in the face of competition has forced vendors of all sorts to consider earlier Black Friday store hours. In fact, an executive vice president at JCPenney was quoted by the Associated Press, lamenting the fact that JCPenney was one of the last retailers to open during Black Friday in 2012. We're sure that JCPenney, and many other stores, are hoping to remedy that this time around.
If all this sounds overwhelming, then be sure to bookmark this page, as we'll be updating the charts below with all the latest confirmed and rumored/projected Black Friday store hours. Alternatively, click here to receive an email alert whenever we post an update. And be sure to visit our Black Friday hub for all the latest news about the big shopping event.
