Black Friday: Kmart and Sears Hours
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Sears Black Friday Hours
Last year, Sears opened at 4am, opting out of the midnight doorbuster competition altogether by positioning itself as a second stop on the Black Friday shopping agenda. For Black Friday 2012, Sears is going in a completely different direction. In a stunning turn of events, Sears will open at 8pm on Thanksgiving Day and stay open for 26 hours straight through until 10pm on Black Friday. This is by far the earliest we’ve ever seen a retailer open its doors for Black Friday. Sears is planning two rounds of doorbusters – one for the early birds beginning at 8pm on Thanksgiving, and a second round beginning at 4am. We’re looking forward to seeing how this double doorbuster strategy plays out in the Sears Black Friday ad.
Kmart Black Friday Hours
Kmart’s Thanksgiving and Black Friday hours are a jumbled, confusing mess. On Thanksgiving Day, Kmart will be open from 6am to 4pm. They’ll reopen four hours later at 8pm and stay open until 3am on Black Friday, shutting the doors once again. Then they’ll reopen two hours later at 5am for Black Friday, staying open this time until 11pm. Are you confused yet? Presumably, the first break would be to let Kmart employees have Thanksgiving dinner with their families, but why close at 3am only to reopen two hours later? And why lose two hours of shopping time to the competition in the middle of the busiest shopping day of the entire year?
The press release from Sears Holdings offers very few answers, saying only that the decision to open both stores on Thanksgiving was driven in part by feedback from customers “who sought more flexible Black Friday in-store shopping times and eagerness to shop doorbuster deals.”
“Kmart stores have been open on Thanksgiving for the last 21 years, serving as a destination for last-minute entertaining needs,” said Ron Boire, executive vice president, chief merchandising officer and president, Sears and Kmart Formats. “We understand that many of our associates want to spend time with their families on the holiday, so Sears and Kmart will staff its stores with seasonal associates and those who have volunteered to work on Thanksgiving Day.”
