NEW YORK (AP) — Stores are hoping holiday shoppers will gobble their turkey on Thanksgiving, but
save the pumpkin pie for later.Asmore than a dozen major retailers from Target to Toys R Us are openingon
Thanksgiving Day, shoppers across the country are expected to get ajump start on holiday shopping season.
The Thanksgiving openings comedespite planned protests across the country from workers’ groups thatare
against employees missing Thanksgiving meals at home with theirfamilies.The holiday openings also are a
break with tradition.The day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday for a decade had beenconsidered the
official start to the holiday buying season. It’s alsotypically the biggest shopping day of the year.But in
the pastfew years, retailers have pushed opening times into Thanksgiving nightto outdo each other and vie
for holiday dollars. They’ve also pushed updiscounting that used to be reserved for Black Friday into
earlyNovember, which has led retail experts to question whether Thanksgivingwill steal some of Black
Friday’s thunder.In fact, data showsthat Thanksgiving openings last year took a bite out of Black
Friday:Sales on turkey day were $810 million last year, an increase of 55percent from the previous year as
more stores opened on the holiday,according to Chicago research firm ShopperTrak. But business dropped
1.8percent to $11.2 billion on Black Friday, though it still was thebiggest shopping day last
year."Black Friday is now Gray Friday,"said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners,
a retailconsultancy. "It’s been pulled all the way to the beginning ofNovember."Stores are trying
to get shoppers to buy in an economythat’s still challenging. While the job and housing markets
areimproving, that hasn’t yet translated into sustained spending increasesamong most shoppers.Overall, The
National Retail Federationexpects retail sales to be up 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion during thelast two
months of the year. That’s higher than last year’s 3.5 percentgrowth, but below the 6 percent pace seen
before the recession.Butanalysts expect sales to be generated at the expense of profits asretailers will
likely have to do more discounting to get people intostores.More than two dozen stores including Kohl’s and
Wal-Mart havealready lowered their profit outlooks for the year.Retailers’strategy is to lure shoppers in
early and often, including onThanksgiving. But the stores face challenges in doing that.Someworkers have
petitions on change.org to protest against Target and BestBuy. The Retail Action Project, a labor-backed
group of retail workers,also is planning to have members visiting customers at stores includingGap and
Victoria’s Secret in midtown Manhattan to educate them about thedemands on workers.But Wal-Mart has been the
biggest target forprotests against holiday hours. Most of the company’s stores are open 24hours, but the
retailer is starting its sales events at 6 p.m. onThursday, two hours earlier than last year.The issue is
part of abroader campaign against the company’s treatment of workers that’sbeing waged by a union-backed
group called OUR Walmart, which includesformer and current workers. The group is staging demonstrations
andwalkouts at hundreds of stores around the country on Friday.BrookeBuchanan, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said
the discounter has received"really good feedback" from employees about working the
holiday.Wal-Martsaid workers get additional holiday pay for working on Thanksgiving.Wal-Mart is also serving
meals at the stores and is giving employees a25 percent discount on a single purchase.But Wal-Mart
workerCindy Murray, 57, shrugs off the perks and said she won’t be able to sitdown for a Thanksgiving meal
with her family until after her nine-hourshift ends at 4 p.m. Murray says the company can’t put a price on
theholiday."If they want to do something for us, they will go back to the old tradition," said
Murray, who lives in Hayettsville, Md.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.
