Maybe it doesn’t matter whether retailers open on Thanksgiving Day or not. Trying to attract our dollars and our attention, stores moved their deals even farther back this year, in a holiday season arms race that will only end when they’ve gone all of the way around the calendar, and sales for the following year begin on Black Friday. [More]
doorbusters
Office Depot Will Open For 3 Hours On Thanksgiving Day
By 11.13.14
In another blow for that holiday that we used to call “Thanksgiving,” the newly merged Office Depot and OfficeMax will open for a few hours on Thanksgiving Day, delivering doorbusters to the masses from 6 PM to 9 PM, closing again until 12:01 AM on Friday. [More]
Sam’s Club Offers Great Thanksgiving Week Deals, Abruptly Cancels Orders
By 11.26.12
Is Sam’s Club the new Best Buy? Last year, Best Buy canceled orders for many of their hottest doorbusters just before Christmas, leaving customers sad and giftless. If that’s Sam’s Club’s plan, at least they’re operating on a shorter timeline before canceling their hottest deals. Readers report to us that Sam’s sold and then canceled these deals all in the space of Thanksgiving weekend. [More]
Rush To Snag New Air Jordans Leads To Maced Shoppers
By 12.24.10
In a scene similar to some of the bloodthirsty throngs at post-Thanksgiving doorbuster sales, shoppers at a Texas mall grew impatient with waiting for Nike’s new Air Jordan 11 Retro sneakers to go on sale. And thanks to some rotten apples, many in the crowd ended up with mace in the face. [More]
Scope Out Black Friday Deals Early
By 11.7.10
With Black Friday just a few weeks away, it’s already time to start thinking about which shopping spots you’ll attack the morning after Thanksgiving. [More]
Lowe's Holds Sale, Underestimates Demand For 90% Off KitchenAid Stand Mixers
By 11.5.10
Home improvement retailer Lowe’s went on Facebook and invited all of its friends to a totally awesome pre-Black Friday party late Thursday night and early Friday morning. Like all really fun parties, too many people showed up and things got out of hand. Which is to say that the doorbuster item, a KitchenAid stand mixer at 90%, sold out quickly, and took the store’s entire site down with it. [More]
Black Friday Doorbusters Are A Sleazy Way To Lure Customers
By 11.20.09
Pay no attention to those ridiculously cheap TV sets and game systems—also called doorbusters—that retailers use to lure in hordes of holiday shoppers, notes CNN. They’re the equivalent of that little dangly thing anglerfish use to catch food.
Walmart Takes Steps To Prevent More Black Friday Chaos And Tragedy
By 11.13.09
Hoping to avoid anything even close to last year’s tragic Black Friday human stampede, Walmart stores nationwide aren’t opening at the crack of dawn. Instead of opening their doors at 5 A.M. and inviting sales-crazed frenzies, they will open at 6 A.M. on Thanksgiving Day, then remain open overnight.
