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How Early Should Stores Open on Black Friday?
For the fourth consecutive year, Black Friday will predominantly be a Friday event as most major retailers have shifted away from Thanksgiving openings. The most popular Black Friday opening times are 5 a.m., 6 a.m., and 7 a.m.
That’s a big change from the pre-pandemic start of Black Friday deals. In 2019, Old Navy and JCPenney opened their doors on Thanksgiving at 3 p.m. for Black Friday specials, while Belk opened on Thanksgiving at 4 p.m., Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, and Kohl’s opened at 5 p.m., and Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gap, and Five Below opened at 6 p.m.
Walmart, where most locations are open 24 hours, started running in-store deals in 2019 from 6 p.m. until supplies ran out.
Beginning in 2020, retailers that were typically open on Thanksgiving, including Walmart, closed their doors to show appreciation to associates for their efforts during the pandemic, and the closings have continued. In 2021, Target announced it would be closing on Thanksgiving permanently.
Before the pandemic, many stores also started holding early Black Friday sales starting in October, and those shifts accelerated in recent years, including exclusive online deals becoming more popular. Still, stores are expected to reserve some special offers to not disappoint shoppers on Black Friday, which is still predicted to be one of the biggest shopping days of the holiday season.
The National Retail Federation reported that Black Friday attracted 72.9 million consumers for in-store shopping in 2022, up from 66.5 million in 2021. Even more — 87.2 million — shopped online on Black Friday in 2022, above the 77 million online shoppers on Cyber Monday.
Here’s a roundup of planned Black Friday openings for some of the larger retail chains:
- 4 a.m.: Dunham’s Sports
- 5 a.m.: Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops, Fleet Farm, Fred Meyer, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Old Navy
- 6 a.m.: Big Lots, Blain’s Farm & Fleet, Boscov’s, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gap, Guitar Center, H&M, JOANN, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Meijer, Menards, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Target, Tractor Supply, Ulta, Walmart
- 7 a.m.: Belk, BJ’s, Conn’s HomePlus, GameStop, Marshall’s, T.J.Maxx, Michaels, PetSmart
- 8 a.m.: Apple, Barnes & Noble, Five Below, Petco
- 9 a.m.: Costco, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, OfficeMax, Staples
Discussion Questions
What time should stores open on Black Friday to support doorbuster deals? Which times appear too early for store workers? Which are too late to create excitement around the shopping holiday?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
Shelley E. Kohan
Associate Professor, Fashion Institute of Technology
It is up to retailers to judge when they should open. However, I don’t think there is any need to open on Thanksgiving as staff need time to rest and be with their family. As for Black Friday, it really needs to be judged by location. I have been in several Old Navy stores in previous years at 5am and they have been utterly dead, so it seems a bit pointless. And are people really that desperate to get to JCPenney, of all things, at 5am?!
It’s a blessing for all that stores no longer open on Thanksgiving. From the jump, it was never going to be profitable. All it was going to do was hit the bottom line (overtime, security, and HVAC costs) and create uncertainty in the seasonal demand curve.
im not sure that doorbusters are any more profitable. Open early if you want…though an 8am opening time on Miami Beach would be total crickets. As Neil said, there may be locations where it makes sense to have an early start it I prefer building up excitement and opening at the regular time
Even though it was a byproduct of the pandemic, the movement toward staying closed on Thanksgiving (at least in physical stores) was a welcome change. The earlier openings became a race to the bottom that did not acknowledge the lives of store associates and managers.
As to the right opening time on Black Friday, it depends on the competitive landscape in one particular retail segment or another. Discounters and big box stores are probably going to stick to 5am opening times (give or take) as long as their Black Friday business is driven by doorbusters — even if a lot of today’s business has shifted online.
Definitely not midnight any more. I am thinking 9am is the earliest myself. Realistically it is better to have the full staff available and daylight. The true early birds already got their online orders.
Stores need to consider the workers not only because it’s the right thing to do for today’s workforce, but because the consumer is keeping a watchful eye out on how retailers are treating their workers and making purchasing decisions based on that factor. To attract great workers, the shift schedules and pay are top considerations. The question is if door busters at 5am or 6am are really needed in today’s hybrid shopping environment.
Ultimately, it’s up to stores when they should open for sales. Or not at all like an increasing amount of retailers. Bottom line, there’s no one strategy to fit all retailers today.
But store teams having to deal with angry mobs at 4am, 5am isn’t/wasn’t serving anyone well. How was/is that a great customer experience in any way, shape or form?
Yes, Black Friday should represent stores open on Black Friday, not on Thanksgiving. Time off for a retailers employees, and a break for stores to stock and prepare for BF is necessary, which can be done with a skeleton crew on Thanksgiving. This will prepare the retailer for a better BF opening, while increasing employee satisfaction from receiving an additional holiday before the BF rush!