An early start
Several stores open their doors on ThanksgivingBy RACHEL LANE
Article Photos
VIENNA - Several stores opened on Thanksgiving this year, letting area shoppers get a head start on Christmas shopping.
Manager Rob Gregory of the Vienna Kmart said there was a demand to be open on Thanksgiving. More than 800 customers appeared and more than 2,000 are expected today, he said.
Kmart was open extended hours. Some pharmacies, open already, offered special offers to encourage customers.
"This is the first time we've shopped on Thanksgiving," said Misse Pickens, of Vienna.
All that piqued her interest Thursday were pajamas for her 2-year-old son," Pickens said.
Bryant Walker of Vienna, said he was not shopping on Black Friday because he doesn't want to get up early enough to shop before he has to go to work this morning.
"May be I'll do some after work," he said. His nephew likes play tools.
"My brother's in town today, so we're Christmas shopping for our parents," said Wayne Smith, of Parkersburg. "We'll probably get them some type of electronic. They keep saying they have everything they want, so we'll just try to update it."
Sales have softened then plummeted this year, so retailers need to boost the bottom line and for some, that involves extending hours and even opening on Thanksgiving Day.
Recently returned from a retail development conference in France, Linda Humphers, the editor for ''Value Retail News,'' a trade publication for the International Council of Shopping Centers, said developers around the world were saying the main concern was cash flow.
"Every single sale is important and they are doing what they can to make a sale," Humphers said.
Retailers are counting on holiday sales to pull them out of a months-long sales slump.
"Black Friday is everything to retailers," said Britt Beemer, chairman of consumer behavior firm America's Research Group
The holidays are a crucial time of the year for retailers. The nickname Black Friday is linked to a myth that the day after Thanksgiving marks the day retailers begin making profits and move into the black.
The lack of a "must-have" gift may also hurt stores. Shoppers flocked to electronics stores for GPS devices and Nintendo Wii consoles in 2007, but there doesn't appear to be a hot item this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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11-28-08 10:05 AM
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We are also drawing names between family members. It's getting harder to spend that hard earned money when it doesn't go as far as it did 5 years ago. I was in line at Kmart Thanksgiving Day. With Kmart being the only place to have Layaway it lets me buy things a little cheaper and still gives me time to pay for it. It really stinks that WalMart had to do away with Layaway.
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Kristine
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11-28-08 9:15 AM
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I wasnt about to go out in the mad mess just to watch everyone go further and further into debt!
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commetsatlarge
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11-28-08 7:03 AM
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Rise in prices of everything related to daily life for us is meaning a very spartan Christmas. Wages again this year in my job are falling way behind inflation. We are drawing names among family so only one gift is being bought instead of many. This economy grew on credit and then now it is time to pay it back. We fell into that trap like others. It was our mistake to do that, and now, my family has its own recession as we struggle to pay for past purchases, and that rise in prices with wages that don't keep pace.
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