Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Before turkey settles, shoppers storm the stores

Target shoppers wait in line for the store to open for Black Thursday in Henderson

L.E. Baskow

Shoppers at Target in Henderson for Black Thursday on Thursday, November 27, 2014.

Black Thursday: Target in Henderson

Employees and shoppers at Target in Henderson comb the store for Black Thursday on Thursday, November 27, 2014. Launch slideshow »

Black Friday got off to an early start in Las Vegas and across the nation as shoppers turned out on Thanksgiving Day in search of bargains.

The National Retail Federation said 140.1 million Americans were expected to shop between Thanksgiving and Sunday, down from 140.3 million in 2013. Those numbers are based on a survey conducted by the trade organization.

Among other predictions stemming from the survey:

• 67.6 million shoppers say they will definitely go to stores over the extended holiday weekend, down from 69.4 million last year.

• 72.5 million say they will wait and see if the bargains are worth it before deciding whether to go out, up from 71 million last year.

“Consumers today want more than just the discounts they’ve been showered with since the start of the recession; they want exclusive offerings and a good reason to spend their discretionary budgets,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release.

“We could witness a sea change this holiday season as consumers’ reliance on extremely deep discounts over the biggest shopping weekend of the year shifts to more of a ‘wait- and-see’ mentality around what retailers will be offering on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday,” Shay said. “We are positive retailers have a few tricks up their sleeve that will draw their customers to their stores and websites, deciding the deals are worth it after all.”

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