Greg and Sonia Sands usually travel to see family on Thanksgiving. This year, they hit Target instead. Nabbing a 50-inch TV for $229 was worth the change in plans.
“We called earlier this week to let them know why we weren’t coming,” Sonia Sands said.
How’d the kinfolk feel about being passed over for bargain hunting?
“For a 50- inch TV for $229, they be better be okay,” Greg Sands said.
While Black Friday has long been a shoppers’ bonanza, so-called Gray Thursday — Thanksgiving Day itself — seems to be increasingly popular. The holiday where Americans supposedly pause to give thanks for their bounty is giving way to more opportunities to add to it.
“We fully expect to see many more come out on Thanksgiving Day and throughout the weekend to take advantage of unbeatable deals,” National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement released earlier this month. “As the official kick-off to the holiday season, retailers are prepared to pull out all the stops for their online and store shoppers, including offering sweepstakes with cash prizes, free gifts with purchase and even exclusive opportunities to score top gift items before everyone else.”
An NRF survey predicted that up to 140 million people planned to shop this weekend, and 33 million said they planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day itself.
While a slew of major retailers including BrandsMart, Best Buy, Toys R Us and Walmart opened on Thanksgiving, others including Von Maur kept their doors closed.
“Happy Thanksgiving!” Von Maur’s Facebook page said Thursday. “In honor of the holiday, Von Maur stores are closed Thursday so our employees may celebrate with their families.”
Alisha Hardee celebrated with hundreds of her new friends. The store manager of the Toys R Us store on Financial Center Way in Buford personally greeted Terry and Ginger Jennings, of Lawrenceville, who were first in line when the doors opened at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, Crystal Burchfield of Cumming headed for the Toys R Us on North Point Parkway in Alpharetta. As of 4:20 p.m. she was No. 130 in line, eager to snap up movies and video games at steep discounts. She was surprised that she nabbed the items she had come for but also stunned at the line that wrapped around the store. Things ended happily although not quickly. After a 40-minute wait, Burchfield had made a good dent in her holiday shopping.
Amber Carpenter and Phillip Stovall of Rutledge had a similarly successful outing, to the Conyers Walmart. At 5 p.m. they already had two baskets of toys ready to be loaded in their SUV and said they were surprised how hassle-free the shopping had been.
“We got here expecting to wait in long lines and not being able to get anything that we came for, but we got everything, plus some,” Carpenter said.
Milton and Sarah Smith of Oxford had never shopped on Black Friday, much less Gray Thursday, before this year, but retailers’ wallet-friendly offers just seemed too good to refuse.
“We saved $100 to $200 just by getting out here and having patience,” said Milton Smith as the couple wheeled a basket carrying toys and their 1-year-old, Chase, out of the Lithonia Toys R Us at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday. “We’ll definitely do it again next year.”
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