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Stores Look to Boxing Day Sales for Salvation: Black Friday 2

by jordan | December 26, 2008 at 04:59 am

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Between the bad economy and the weather, it's been a cruddy year for stores, and those stores are looking to salvage the season. Shoppers, perhaps smelling blood in the water, have been using the Internet to plan their surgical strikes, starting the day before.

Before the Christmas turkey was cold, North Americans were searching for Best Buy's or Wal-Mart's opening times (for example), though I'm not sure just how many would really pack the kids into the car for a 6am opening time. However, those stores do enjoy plenty of traffic in the predawn hours as people take advantage of those after-Christmas sales, or just want to return some of their newly-acquired swag.

While Boxing Day sales traditionally bolster the bottom line, this year's sales are going to be more aggressive, both in terms of deeper price cuts and longer duration as stores hope for Black Friday 2.

The term "Boxing Week" has already started creeping into shoppers' parlance during the past few years, but watch for it to become the norm.

Over the years, Dec. 26 has become more than a day for consumers to return well-intentioned but unwanted gifts. Many stores open early and offer doorbuster specials, catering to recipients of holiday gift cards as well as shoppers looking to treat themselves.

After a disastrous 12 months for the industry - a battered economy, higher unemployment and bankruptcy filings - experts say they expect retailers will beckon shoppers with bigger discounts, especially with indications that recession-stressed consumers continued to cut back in December and left retailers with a larger-than-expected inventory to clear.

Despite doorbuster specials, retail analysts say the turnout probably won't be as large as that typically seen on Black Friday. Retailers said they are taking the usual precautions and are being diligent about crowd control and security, although they do not expect that to be an issue.

What time does your local Wal-Mart/Best Buy/Big Box open?
Early o'clock.
Is stuff on sale?
Yes.

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