Black Friday Deals Spreading Out, Starting Earlier Than Ever
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There are still six weeks until Christmas, but the big retail companies are already kicking off their holiday deals. Forget Black Friday, it's like an entire Black November.
Christie Ileto has more on sales starting earlier than ever.
Gone are the days of manic one-day only sales.
"Store's overcrowded. It's too much. I can't do it," said Jolanda Blake, shopper.
Black Friday deals are now spreading out. At Sam's Club, they start this Saturday and continue every weekend through November.
"It makes it a lot less pressure and I can get it done and take my time and do my shopping. Reasonable," said Don Layfield, shopper.
The holiday deals are starting earlier and big box stores are stretching out shopping festivities, competing for your dollar.
"You've got so many more players in the market now," said Patrick Donahoe, president of the Maryland Retail Association.
Walmart--the world's largest retailer--will have Black Friday deals over five days, Target is offering early access to certain items on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Best Buy has in-store deals on Thanksgiving and the day after, while Amazon has deals this whole month.
"You're seeing more retailers kind of stagger it out so that they can get more people into the stores, not just on one day," said Donahoe.
And it doesn't stop there. Officials say 44 percent of shoppers will make purchases online. The retail forecast shows holiday sales in Maryland will jump about 3.5 percent from this time last year.
"People are going to fall for it. I never did believe in Black Friday myself," said one shopper.
But not everyone is sold. Still, retailers are hoping to cash in on shoppers scouring for the best deal.
As for small, local businesses, the Maryland Retail Association says the Saturday after Black Friday tends to be one of the busiest.
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