Christmas shoppers to get early start on Black - and Blue - Friday. Some stores opening Thanksgiving night

By Natalie Simms
nsimmshh@att.net

 

(This story originally was posted on Nov. 7 and has been updated)

 

With Black Friday just a few weeks away, local stores are making preparations to open earlier this year to give shoppers a jump start on their Christmas gift buying. While most retailers will still open in the wee-hours of the morning, some will do so at midnight for the biggest shopping day of the year.

 

Mount Berry Square will open at 4 a.m. but Belk will be open an hour earlier at 3 a.m. Special benefits will await those early shoppers, says Mimi Fernandez, marketing manager.

 

"The first 500 shoppers will receive shopping totes with merchant coupons, plus we will have gift cards randomly placed in some of the bags," she says. "There will also be special one-day savings at Sears, Belk and J.C. Penney and others."

 

Rome's Home Depot at 103 Hicks Drive will be opening at 5 a.m., an hour earlier than in previous years, according to Manager Dena Jacobs.

 

"We will have a number of doorbuster deals that will be available at 5 a.m. until we sell out. We'll have lots of deals on Christmas items and hardware. We're looking forward to a busy day," she says.

 

Nearby Kmart at 102 Hicks Drive also will be opening up at 5 a.m. for what they call "Blue Friday," says Manager Mike Barger, adding, "we will also have our annual Thanksgiving Day sale from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. the day before."

 

Barger predicts items in electronics will be popular items this year but the store does not yet know what items will be on sale.

 

"We want shoppers to know that our layaway will be open on Blue Friday and everything that is on sale is eligible for layaway … most everything in store is eligible, not just in certain departments," Barger says.

 

This might give Kmart a boost in local competition with Wal-Mart stores whose layaway departments will not be open on Black Friday. According to their corporate website, Black Friday items will not be eligible for layaway. And during the Christmas season, the only items eligible for layaway are from toys, electronics and fine jewelry departments.

 

However, local Wal-Mart stores will be opening up earlier this year for two special sales. Stores will open for the first sale at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night, a two-hour shift from last year's midnight sale, says Bert Parker, assistant manager at the East Rome Wal-Mart.

 

"We will also have our second sale at 4 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. on Friday morning. We don't know what items will be on sale yet, we're just told to prepare drop points around the store," he says.

 

Calhoun Premium Outlets will again be opening at midnight for the annual "Midnight Madness" event.

-But some stores will get a jump on the sales by opening at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving Day while others will open at 10 p.m.

 

Over in Cartersville, two local stores will be opening at midnight. Target stores nationwide will be opening at midnight this year, much earlier than the 4 a.m. opening last year. Kohl's stores also will be opening at midnight.