Instead of waiting until black Friday this year, some retailers are rolling out deals early. They're hoping to entice shoppers who were hesitant to spend money last year.
"Depends on if they'll give us a good deal or not, if not we can probably live without it," said shopper Kristen Hamilton. Retailers know that with the economy, a lot of shoppers are more realistic about what they can and can't live without this holiday season.
Places like Best Buy are being more aggressive with their ads this year. "Everybody is doing it this year, I think a lot of the industry is, the retail industry is trying to get a jump on black Friday," said Woody Dequillettes, the product process manager for Best Buy in Bakersfield. A handful of items are already set at black Friday prices here at Best Buy. The retailer knocked $1300 off the cost of one of their highest end t.v.'s last Sunday. "It doesn't pigeon hole anybody into one specific time frame where they have to get a t.v." said shopper John Slezak. "A lot of people will be out earlier just shopping, just due to the economy trying to find better deals," said shopper John Palmer.
But stores still expect long lines on the biggest shopping day of the year. However others, like Wal-Mart, are trying to avoid those lines though. For the first time all Wal-Marts are staying open on Thanksgiving and then 24 hours through black Friday to avoid any rush. Kmart will also be open on Thanksgiving.
Kmart and other retailers plan to reward early birds with special deals before noon. The first few people in line at Best Buy can expect some freebies. "We're going to look for the best deal we can find, we're cutting corners where we can," said Hamilton.
You can already find out what the deals are going to be like at Best Buy by going to their website, or find deals for many different retailers by going to www.blackfriday.info. However most retailers will have ads coming out Wednesday featuring their black Friday deals.
