Following in the footsteps of retail giants like Walmart and Target, GameStop has announced that all retail locations will be closed on Thanksgiving this year. This is a shift from previous years where many locations were required to open up mid-afternoon on Thanksgiving to kick off the Black Friday shopping sales.

Of course, customers will be able to shop online on the GameStop site, likely earlier than Thanksgiving as more online retailer launch deal pricing on the Wed night prior to Thanksgiving. Customers can use a same-day shipping option (if available) or simply head to the store the following day to pick up their order (assuming the order is placed on Thursday).

GameStop typically released their Black Friday sales ad in the final week of October or the first week of November. If the company attempts to follow Walmart’s lead, expect to see more frequent flash sales during early November.

As always, you can watch the GameStop-specific deal feed on Ben’s Bargains to view the latest deals. This holiday season is expected to be particularly busy for video games with two new, next-generation consoles coming out as well as deep discounts on previous gen hardware and software. You can watch all the best gaming deals at all retailers in our category feed here.

If you are shopping at GameStop this year, keep in mind that free shipping only works on orders that are $35 or more.

GameStop becomes next retailer to announce store closures for Thanksgiving

In a recent update to the coronavirus risk categories list as it related to virus transmission during holiday events, the Center for Disease Control has added in-person shopping around Black Friday to Thanksgiving’s high risk category.

Specifically, the CDC added “Going shopping in crowded stores just before, on, or after Thanksgiving” along with other high risk activities like attending crowded parades, participating in (or watching) crowded races, and attending large, indoor gatherings with family / friends.

Alternatively, the CDC recommends shopping online instead of going to a retail, brick & mortar location. In years past, online Black Friday sales typically kick off around 7 p.m. PT on the Wednesday preceding Thanksgiving. If you are diligent about shopping early, you can snag many deals before Thanksgiving even starts, leaving you to focus on eating as much turkey as humanly possible.

It’s also possible that you could finish off your holiday shopping in mid-October during Amazon Prime Day. Amazon will offer significant discounts on Oct 13 and 14. In addition, both Target and Walmart will be holding competing sales. It’s also likely retailer like Best Buy will get into the mix.

Retailers will also be spreading out sales throughout early November, attempting to snag the dollars of consumers who prefer to stay home this year and avoid stores completely.

It’s possible that retailers will come up with some form of voucher system for doorbusters this year, in an attempt to limit the number of people waiting at the door when the stores open. Of course, retailers could also just shift a larger portion of doorbuster inventory into the online space as well.

Most retailers have been quiet about Black Friday plans thus far, beyond announcing that retail locations will be closed on Thanksgiving this year. Expect to see press releases on how stores will be handling in-person visitors on Black Friday by the end of October.

CDC adds in-store, Black Friday shopping to high risk list for Thanksgiving

Likely not the last store to announce store closures on Thanksgiving, Target will be closing all stores on Turkey Day for the first time in a decade. Both Walmart and Target have been comparing for in-store shoppers during Thanksgiving for the last several years.

Of course, customers will still be able to shop online on Thanksgiving, likely taking advantage of Black Friday deals as early as 6 p.m. PT on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving.

In addition, Target may extend the traditional November sales push into October, likely as an attempt to compete with Amazon’s Prime Day (rumored to start in early to mid-October). As detailed in Target’s blog post: “Starting in October and continuing throughout the season, you’ll find Target’s lowest prices of the year on items in stores and online.”

Prior to Black Friday, Target typically picks one weekend during November to schedule a weekend flash sale. Target will offer pricing that’s fairly similar to prices offered on Black Friday; mainly on electronics as well as kitchen housewares, home goods and toys.

We wouldn’t be shocked to see similar sales occur in October, either directly competing with Prime Day or staggered throughout late October as an attempt to kick off holiday shopping early.

Following Walmart, Target announces all stores will be closed on Thanksgiving

Closing for Thanksgiving for the first time in roughly a decade, Walmart has made the decision to give employees the day off prior to one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Black Friday. The same goes for the Sam’s Club warehouse club chain, but that retailer is typically closed for Thanksgiving just like Costco.

The last time Walmart was closed for Thanksgiving was 2010. The retailer opened at midnight, just after Thanksgiving expired. Since 2010, the opening time was pushed earlier and earlier into Thanksgiving. As of holiday 2019, Walmart opened at 6 p.m. local time.

Of course, this shift is unlikely to alter when Walmart offers Black Friday deals online. If anything, it may push the start time to an earlier point in order to expand sales. Last year, Walmart started offering Black Friday prices on the Wed. preceding Thanksgiving at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

Walmart will be open for normal hours on Wednesday and will announce the opening hours for Black Friday at a later date.

It’s likely Walmart will also have to announce some form of crowd control to protect customers against spreading coronavirus when lined up outside stores this year. Best Buy has used a ticket system in the past that assigns doorbusters to people in line to avoid crowds rushing the door at opening.

Walmart will close for Thanksgiving this year

We know trying to snag deals on Thanksgiving and Black Friday can be overwhelming. Some retailers, like Kohl’s and Newegg, already rolled out Black Friday prices as of Monday. Some retailers, like Best Buy, are rolling out deals to members of their Elite shopping program.

However, there are a number of tips you can rely on in order to snag some of the best deals of the year. We’ve put together a list of ten helpful suggestions to help you save money and grab those deals before everyone else.

1. Timing is everything!

The best online deals start the night before Thanksgiving (Wednesday). While stores schedule their Thanksgiving Day deals to begin at midnight EST (9 p.m. PST), many retailers will jump the gun and start an hour or two earlier. Start keeping an eye out for those doorbusters around 7 p.m. PST on Wednesday; an ideal task for mobile devices.

2. Prep your accounts in advance!

There’s nothing worse than missing out on an amazing online doorbuster because you had to set up a new account with shipping / payment details. If you plan on shopping at a specific retailer this year, visit a day or two before Thanksgiving / Black Friday and update all your details. Around 6 p.m. PST, go log into that account and you will be ready to quickly make a purchase before online doorbuster inventory runs out.

3. Try adding doorbusters early!

This trick will vary between online retailers. Add the doorbuster to your cart on Wednesday night and simply refresh the page to see if the price drops in your cart. This could end up saving those previous seconds that will help you snag the deal before inventory sells out. However, you should also open a second tab in your browser to refresh the price on the main product page just in case it doesn’t update in the cart.

4. If something sells out, don’t give up!

Starting Wednesday night through Friday night, the most aggressive doorbuster deals will happen at random times online. Stores often plan on having inventory saved for specific times of the day. In addition, online retailers will often compete with price drops. Amazon may lower a price on a product and sell out within an hour. However, Target or Walmart may decide to price match it later in the day.

5. Don’t forget the little guys!

While massive retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy are certainly great places to score online Black Friday deals, some smaller retailers have online deals just as good, sometimes even better (and less likely to sell out!) In the last couple years, Staples had some excellent cheap laptop deals, and 6pm had the best prices on shoes and apparel. Other retailers to keep an eye on include the Microsoft Store, OfficeMax, Google Shopping and Kohl’s.

6. Choose gift card bundles wisely!

Many of the most popular items won’t necessarily be on sale with a major discount, but will come with a hefty store gift card. This is especially true for trendy electronics like the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Bose/Beats headphones, GoPro cameras, Nest Thermostat and pretty much anything Apple related.

Retailers are banking on the fact that many gift cards go completely unused. Make sure you choose a gift card deal for a retailer where you regularly shop. For example, Target or Amazon are likely to have tons of other items from your shopping list, while a gift card for a retailer like Best Buy might not be as useful.

7. Activate your credit card’s promotional discount!

Many cards offer discounts specific to seasonal periods, but require activation to use. For instance, Chase Freedom offers 5% back at department stores, Paypal or Chase Pay on purchases during Q4. Discover offers 5% cash back on Amazon, Target and Walmart.com during Q4. American Express offers store-specific coupons (Ex. Spend $50, get $20 credit) all year round. All of these have to be activated though by logging onto your account and clicking the activation link. Here’s a complete list for this year.

8. Take advantage of price-matching programs!

Target recently announced an expansion of the retailer’s price matching policy, now including stores like Amazon, Walmart.com, Sam’s Club and Costco. Walmart is attempting to do something similar, but internally price matching items. If you read up on price matching before checking out, you may end up combining your price matched item with other discounts, like credit card rewards.

9. Always check for coupons!

Before checking out online, do a quick Google search for coupon codes (or in the Ben’s deal box description). You’d be surprised at how many online merchants routinely have 10% to 20% off codes available, and most of the time they stack with sale prices and other promotions. Examples of stores that almost always have coupon codes (even if they’re not advertised on the site) include Kohl’s and Macy’s.

10. Save 5% to 15% on top of sale prices using discounted gift cards!

Most frequently found on eBay during the holiday season, discount gift cards will typically sell up to 20% off. While this practice requires a predictive strategy to deciding where you will eventually spend your holiday purchasing dollars, it’s great for stores that you constantly visit every year for holiday shopping.

The Insider’s Guide to Shopping Online on Thanksgiving & Black Friday 2019

If you happen to miss the online doorbusters this year and need to line up at various retailers, you will probably need to know when each store will be opening on Thanksgiving.

Of course, there are retailers that are give their employees Thursday off to actually celebrate Thanksgiving. Shocking, we know! We’ve included a list of those stores below. Those stores can also be good options if you prefer eating Turkey over standing in line.

With that in mind, we have compiled a list of store opening times for the major retailers that have announced times so far, both for Thanksgiving and for Black Friday. Take a look:

[table caption=”Major Retailers Opening on Thanksgiving” width=”620″ colwidth=”20|40|30″ colalign=”left|center|center”]
Store,Opening Time, Black Friday Ad Scan
Best Buy,5pm,LINK
Dell,6pm ET,LINK

Dick’s Sporting Goods,6pm,LINK
JC Penney,3pm,LINK
KMart,7pm,LINK
Kohl’s,6am,LINK
Macy’s,5pm,LINK
Meijer,6am,LINK

Sears,6pm,LINK
Target,6pm,LINK
Toys R Us,5pm,LINK
Walmart,6pm,LINK
[/table]

[table caption=”Major Retailers Opening on Black Friday” width=”620″ colwidth=”20|40|30″ colalign=”left|center|center”]
Store,Opening Time, Black Friday Ad Scan

Cabela’s,5am,LINK

Costco,9am,LINK
GameStop,5am,LINK

hhgregg,7am,LINK
Home Depot,6am,LINK
Lowe’s,6am,LINK
Office Depot / OfficeMax,6am,LINK
PetSmart,7am,LINK
Sam’s Club,7am,LINK

Staples,6am,LINK
[/table]

Here’s When Retailers are Opening Stores on Thanksgiving / Black Friday

While Sam’s Club already released information about an early November 14 sale, the Black Friday ad details more aggressive discounts on electronics as well a variety of other products. While you can read through the full Black Friday ad here, we have picked out the five best deals in the advertisement based off historical sale pricing. Check out the full list below.

1. Vizio 58″ 4K Smart HDTV ($698)

Based on price history of this model, Dell recently had the best price on the Vizio D58U-D3 model; $1,050 with a $350 Dell gift card included. The Sam’s Club price is much better if you don’t want to deal with a bonus gift card. Be aware that this television is compatible with the recent specifications standards, HDCP 2.2 and HMI 2.0.

2. Disney Infinity 3.0 Starter Pack ($37.88)

We’ve only seen the Disney Infinity 3.0 pack drop below this price once and that was a temporary pricing mistake on Amazon. The typical sale price on Infinity 3.0 is usually $10 more than the Sam’s Club price, especially the PS4 and Xbox One versions. The price on Skylanders is also fantastic, significantly cheaper than any previous sale.

3. Hawke & Co Packable Down Jackets ($25)

The $25 price at Sam’s Club on these jackets is half the price of our lowest price on record. While winter outerwear is usually cheaper as the weather starts to warm, this price is too good to pass up if you are in need of a great winter coat.

4. Huffy Adult Cruiser Bike ($100)

Huffy Cruiser models go on sale frequently, but rarely for a price under $110 based on historical data. If you are in the market for a cruiser, this is a great deal for adults or as a gift for a teenager.

5. HP Pavilion Core i7 15.6″ Laptop ($499)

This non-descriptive laptop listing almost slipped by us. It’s quite the powerhouse with a Intel Core i7-5500U processor, 12GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. A comparable model from Toshiba went on sale for $600 recently. If you are shopping for a beefy laptop, this is a definitely a well-priced option.

Top 5 Deals: Sam’s Club 2015 Black Friday Ad

Retailers, shoppers and employees are on-board for another early start to Black Friday on Thanksgiving.

Did you know there are just 25 shopping days between Black Friday and Christmas this year? That’s nearly a 20% decrease in shopping time over the 2012 holiday shopping season. With the shortest shopping period between Black Friday and Christmas in the last 10 years, retailers and consumers are beginning to ramp up for an even earlier start this holiday season.

For example, Macy’s recently announced select retail locations will be open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving to get a jump on Black Friday. That’s the first time in Macy’s 100+ year existence that the company will open on Thanksgiving, likely an attempt to compete with retail giants like Walmart and Target that have been progressively opening earlier in more locations over the last ten years.

Of course, retailers have good reason to open earlier and offer aggressive sales during November. Both the National Retail Foundation (NRF) and Accenture are predicting spending increases among consumers this year, specifically 3.9% and 11% respectively. The NRF’s prediction is slightly higher than the actual sales growth of 3.5% from 2012.

Here at Ben’s Bargains, we conducted our 2013 Holiday Shopping Survey with a respondent pool of approximately 3,000 consumers drawn from our core users. When asked if they planned to spend more or less this holiday season, 82% said they would spend the same amount of money or more this year. When asked how much they plan to spend on gifts this year, over half of consumers plan to spend a minimum of $500 and 18% will spend upwards of $1,000 this holiday season.

Which Stores Want You to Skip the Tryptophan?

As mentioned previously, Macy’s was one of the first retail stores to announce a Thanksgiving Day opening time. Other stores that are publicly on board with early opening times include J.C. Penney and Kohl’s. It’s also likely that Target, Walmart, Sears, Kmart and Toys ‘R Us will have a Thanksgiving night opening in order to repeat last year’s success. Last year, most large retailers opened between 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving night to kick off Black Friday sales.

Thanksgiving openings were definitely a success for retailers last year with over 35 million consumers hitting the stores or shopping online. According to an NRF study of the 2012 shopping season, that’s approximately a 20% increase in traffic over the previous year. If the same growth rate continues this year, retailers could see upwards of 40 to 45 million consumers hitting stores and logging onto sites on Thanksgiving night. Our survey data also points to another big sales day on Thanksgiving with less than 4 out of 10 consumers wanting retailers to stay out of Thanksgiving.

In a statement regarding Kohl’s early opening, chief customer officer Michelle Gass said:

“Shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend has become a much-anticipated tradition enjoyed with friends and family. As many customers are eager to get a jump start on their shopping, we are opening our stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day as a convenience to our customers who want to make Kohl’s their first stop.”

Beyond Thanksgiving Day, retailers are likely to have a strong Black Friday weekend as well. According to our survey data, over a third of consumers will start their holiday shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In addition, 97% of survey respondents will be using online shopping, either mobile or desktop, on Black Friday to snag great deals.

Shoppers are Leading the Charge to Earlier Sales

This retail push into Turkey Day and even earlier sales during the month of November can be attributed to consumers as well. When we asked consumers when they planned to start shopping this year, nearly the same amount of people plan to start shopping prior to Halloween when compared to people starting during early to mid-December. Overall, 45% of consumers plan to start shopping prior to Black Friday. Even more interesting, 60% of female respondents plan to start prior to Black Friday, most of whom will start shopping during early to mid-November.

Accenture’s 2013 Holiday Shopping Survey shows a similar trend. Nearly one-quarter (23%) of respondents stated they had already begun shopping for the holidays and more than 70% stated that they would be done before the end of November. A couple reasons behind the early start include spreading out the total holiday budget as well as reducing stress by avoiding the holiday crowds.

When we asked consumers about their opinion of the early Thanksgiving day openings, approximately 61% either liked the early sales or didn’t have an issue with stores opening early. Accenture’s survey also supports this data with more than a third of shoppers reporting that they will be shopping on Thanksgiving Day.

Interestingly, consumers aren’t just shopping for other people this year. Nearly 85% of our respondents said they would be shopping for themselves on Black Friday—a common holiday practice known as self-gifting. According to our survey data, some of the most-wanted gifts that may be self-gifted this year include home electronics (HDTVs / Digital Cameras / Home Theater), Clothing & Shoes and Mobile Devices (Tablets / Smartphones).

Are Retail Employees Happy About the Shift?

Last year, there was a vocal, growing rebellion among retail employees and general consumers about extending Black Friday into Thanksgiving. A Target employee in California started an online petition on Change.org that attracted over 375,000 signatures, but was ultimately unsuccessful in persuading Target to move the 9 p.m. Thanksgiving Day opening time into Black Friday. Similar petitions were distributed for Walmart and other retailers, but none were successful in changing the minds of retailers.

Interestingly, Macy’s management distributed a poll among retail employees asking if they would be interested in arriving at the stores at 7:30 p.m. for the planned 8:00 p.m. opening.

However, it was likely more of a call for volunteers to work on Thanksgiving rather than a factor in deciding to open early. When asked about a lack of volunteers, Macy’s management replied:

“We will do our best to honor your preferences. Based on the needs of the business we may still need you to work an opening shift.”

This year, we reached out to a couple employees at major retailers (who wish to remain anonymous) to get their opinion on the matter. When we asked a female Macy’s employee in California about her company opening on Thanksgiving, she said:

“I think opening on Thanksgiving Day is weird, but Macy’s has to do what it can to keep up. For those that want to work on Thanksgiving, it’s ok. As long as they still get to have dinner with their families.”

More specific to her situation, she continued:

“For me, I don’t want to work on Thanksgiving Day. I celebrate Thanksgiving later in the day, so I don’t want to work. I prefer to work on Black Friday rather than Thanksgiving Day.”

We also spoke to a retail employee at a Columbia store location in New York. Columbia is a popular sportswear company that opens up at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving night and stays open for 24 hours until 10 p.m. on Black Friday. When asked about the company’s position on making Thanksgiving Day optional for employees, she said:

“No, employees don’t have a choice. Sometimes managers have a little say, but for the most part, you get what you get.”

When asked how employees feel about working on Thanksgiving Day, she continued:

“Depending on the employee, some love the rush of working overnight. However, people that have family to spend Thanksgiving with don’t want to work. Last year, I missed my Thanksgiving dinner. Even though I didn’t have to be at work until 8:30 p.m, I had to go to bed at 2:00 p.m. that day and missed dinner. People don’t realize that you will be working all night.”

Up to this point in the year, there haven’t been any new petitions distributed to halt the practice of earlier store openings. It’s likely that many retail employees are more accepting of the fact that more stores will open on Thanksgiving to stay competitive.

What Are Your Plans on Turkey Day?

Regardless of your opinion on the early start on Thanksgiving, online shopping seems to be the happy medium for consumers who don’t want to trek out to stores on Thanksgiving night, but still want to take advantage of big savings. When we asked our respondents how many will be shopping only online this year, nearly half indicated that they would avoid brick & mortar stores completely in favor of online shopping. In addition, the most common response to their favorite aspect of online shopping was staying at home away from the crowds.

Safety also comes into play when choosing online shopping over retail locations. When we asked respondents if they would be concerned standing at the front of a line at a crowded store as the doors open on Black Friday, 58% responded in the affirmative, declaring that they would be worried about getting injured by crowds.

Of course, Ben’s Bargains can help you cut through all the Black Friday noise during November, especially if you prefer staying in the warmth of your home rather than venturing out to crowded stores.

Launching in early November, our Black Friday Hub Page will help you find the absolutely best deals this holiday season all through November as well as on Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend. For your perusal, we will have:

• A list of the best online and in-store deals updated each day by our expert deal editors.
• Buyer’s guides to help you find the right gifts this year.
• Ad scans for anyone brave enough to venture out on Thanksgiving night.
• A series of awesome giveaways all month long!

Check out the Ben’s Bargains Black Friday Hub!

Let’s Face it, Shoppers Want Black Friday to Begin on Thanksgiving