Historically, "Black Friday sales" occurred the day after Thanksgiving, and has been a huge shopping day for retailers. This is the day when consumers have traditionally flocked to the stores to get a jump on holiday shopping. The name allegedly originates from retailers claiming these sales put them in the "black" in their accounting records.
A couple of decades ago, retailers began rewarding these shoppers with "early bird" special sales. How it generally worked was consumers willing to get up early to catch the sales could score some nice savings. Stores were not overly crowded and shoppers could easily browse store shelves. The special promotion typically lasted a couple of hours, being over by mid-morning.
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Every year, it can be almost guaranteed media reports will highlight the disorder and craziness that is now associated with Black Friday sales. Last year there were numerous reports of stores deciding to open on Thanksgiving Day. That trend has not changed for 2014. In fact, many stores will be opening earlier than last year, even some of the previous "holdouts".
What is the "Thanksgiving Creep"?
Over the past two years, many retailers have decided to push their sales into starting on Thanksgiving Day, typically in the evening, but each year doors open a few hours earlier. This has become known as the "Thanksgiving creep."
In 2013, at least eight major retailers had advertised their sales will start on Thanksgiving Day. The list includes Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Sears, Macy's, J.C. Penney, Kohl's and Old Navy. Kmart, which has been opening on Thanksgiving for about two decades, will continue its tradition. The difference for Kmart, however, is it has decided to open its doors at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, sparking controversy and backlash on social media over these early hours. Fast forward to 2014 and many other stores have followed suit with plans to be open on
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Many retailers in recent years have cited they are doing this in response to consumer demand. In an age where people might be highly concerned with scoring good deals, many are possibly willing to forgo the traditional family holiday in favor of shopping.
Every year the wait lines for Black Friday to enter the big box stores continues to have earlier start times. In recent years there were reports of people camping out days ahead of time in front of retailers' doors.
Black Friday is starting earlier for the same reason why it has been expanding in other years over the last decade, businesses are looking to boost holiday sales and many consumers will likely respond if they think by waiting to shop they'll miss the deals.
The potential to boost sales is an attractive prospect for businesses.
According to last year's article by USA Today, statistics published by the National Retail Federation indicated consumers are expected to spend almost 4 percent more than they did in 2012. Although some analysis has indicated opening earlier doesn't necessarily expand overall sales for the