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Thanksgiving, Black Friday Hours At Connecticut Stores

A line of holiday shoppers wrapped around the building at Best Buy near Corbins Corner in West Hartford on Thanksgiving last year.
Brad Horrigan / bhorrigan@courant.com
A line of holiday shoppers wrapped around the building at Best Buy near Corbins Corner in West Hartford on Thanksgiving last year.
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Don’t plan on lingering over a second piece of pumpkin pie. Black Friday will start on Thanksgiving again this year.

In spite of REI’s announcement that it will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, Nordstrom’s pledge to stay closed on Thanksgiving and several other retailers’ decision to resist Christmas shopping creep, major chains, including Macy’s, Sears, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Walmart, Target and Toys “R” Us, will kick off their in-store holiday shopping season just as most of us are finishing our turkey dinner.

The reason? The bottom line.

According to the National Retail Federation, an estimated 134 million people shopped in stores and online during the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday in 2014 and that number could increase this year.

“Despite ever early Black Friday creep and some disdain for stores opening on Thanksgiving, consumers still expect the deepest savings during the main holiday weekend, and there’s competition among retailers to offer exactly that,” says Brent Shelton, spokesman for the bargain website FatWallet.com. “Those surveyed overwhelmingly say Black Friday has the best deals and savings versus any other holiday shopping events.”

Close to 70 percent of shoppers plan to spend as much as or more than last year, and although 42 percent of those surveyed say they dislike Thanksgiving store hours, the pushback is waning. Most major chains will open for business sometime in the late afternoon or early evening.

Best Buy and Toys “R” Us will open at 5 p.m.; Kohl’s, Macy’s, Target, Walmart and Sears will open at 6 p.m. JC Penney stands out with a 3 p.m. opening Thursday afternoon.

“Retailers seem to have landed on a time that works — late enough not to interfere with holiday dinner, but early enough for people to get in an evening of shopping,” Shelton says.

Though some consumers avoid stores on Thanksgiving, they don’t necessarily avoid shopping.

Thanksgiving 2015 will be the fastest growing shopping day for the second consecutive year, with mobile devices (tablet and smartphone), driving 51 percent of purchases and sales projected to be $1.6 billion for the day, according to the Adobe Digital Index.

“You’re not seeing an outcry for retail websites to close down on Thanksgiving,” Shelton says.

(In spite of REI’s much-reported Thanksgiving and Black Friday closing, the outdoor retailer’s website will be up and running with both days. Nordstrom, too, has a long tradition of not opening until the day after Thanksgiving, but that company’s website will be in operation on Thanksgiving as well.)

Apparel, electronics and toys still top most shoppers’ lists.

In response to the virtual demand, many retailers will get the holiday shopping party started on store websites well before Black Friday. Walmart announced that most of its Black Friday blockbuster offers, including a 40-inch HDTV for $149 and the Fitbit Flex Wristband for $59, will be available on Walmart.com starting at 12:01 a.m. PT, (3:01 a.m. ET), on Thanksgiving morning.

“Our customers can count on us to deliver three things on Black Friday — we’re offering amazing prices, we bought deeper on the gifts they want, and we simplified the shopping experience in stores and online,” the company said in a press release.

Best Buy made eight deals from its Black Friday ad available on BestBuy.com and in stores earlier this month. Bargains included $125 off an iPad Air 2, a Toshiba 55-inch LED TV for $349.99 and $150 savings on the new 12-inch MacBook with 256GB flash storage. (The chain also promised that dozens more blockbusters will be available when stores open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving.)

Target hopes to entice online and in-store customers with deals before, after and during the holiday weekend. All Black Friday deals will be available on Target.com on Thanksgiving Day and the chain will offer a “10 Days of Deals” promotion from Nov. 22 through Dec. 1. And guests who spend $75 or more on Friday, Nov. 27, get a 20 percent discount to use toward a purchase made between Dec. 4 and 13.

Kohls.com will have its Black Friday deals available before Thanksgiving. From Nov. 23 to Nov. 25, online customers can shop “doorbusters” and get $15 in Kohl’s Cash for every $50 spent.

Macy’s Black Friday deals, such as espresso makers, toasters, electric skillets and other small appliances for $9.99, (after rebate), and $439.99 cashmere sweaters, will be available online throughout Thanksgiving Day at Macys.com. (Most Macy’s stores will open at 6 p.m.)

Toys “R” Us announced that its Rewards “R” Us members will have access to more than 100 “doorbusters,” both online and in stores, starting on Nov. 22.

Shop Your Way members get access to online-only early offers at Kmart.com on Nov. 21 and 22 and at Sears on Nov. 22 and 23. (Rewards R Us and Shop Your Way memberships are free.)

But if you love the hand-to-hand combat sport of Thanksgiving night or pre-dawn Black Friday shopping, not to worry. Stores will still be offering plenty of old-fashioned deals to customers lining up outside their doors.

Early customers at JC Penney get an immediately-redeemable coupon worth $10 off $10 or $100 off $100. A few lucky customers could get a coupon for $500 off $500.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday Hours

Here’s a list of mall and store openings. Hours can vary depending on location, so be sure to check with your local stores before heading out.

>>Kmart will open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Ocean State Job Lot at 9 a.m., followed by JCPenney at 3 p.m., Michaels craft stores at 4 p.m., Best Buy and Toys “R” Us at 5 p.m. and Kohl’s, Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Sears at 6 p.m.

>>The Shoppes at Buckland Hills will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving Day, although select stores in the mall might open earlier. Some stores will be open from midnight to 6 a.m. on Black Friday. Stores mall-wide will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Black Friday.

>>Westfarms mall in Farmington/West Hartford will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving Day and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday.

>>Evergreen Walk in South Windsor: Select stores in the center will have Thanksgiving hours. (On Friday, the center opens at 8 a.m., although some stores will open earlier.)

>>Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets will open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and stay open through 10 p.m. on Friday.

>>Tanger Outlets in Westbrook will be open from 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day through 10 p.m. on Friday.

>>Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods will be open from 6 p.m. on Thursday through 11 p.m. on Friday.

>>Big Lot stores are open from 7 a.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving Day. Stores open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

>>Dick’s Sporting Goods stores open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

>>Michaels: Stores open at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

>>Old Navy: Stores open at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

>>Ulta stores open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

If you want to spend your money at retailers resisting the Thanksgiving opening trend, the following chains are closed on Thursday: Cabela’s, The Home Depot, Nordstrom, BJ’s, Costco, Jo-Ann Stores, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, P.C. Richard & Son, Home Goods, Staples, Sam’s Club and Trader Joe’s.

REI is closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.