Black Friday 2014: Have Thanksgiving Day deals ruined a retail tradition?

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Black Friday has given way to Thanksgiving Day store openings in recent years.

(Orlando Barria/EPA)

There goes Thanksgiving? Black Friday shoppers may have to skip the dessert this Thanksgiving — and in some cases, dinner, too — if they intend to snag deals at some of the biggest retailers.

"We've seen a push in the last couple of years to open earlier, and this year there's an even bigger push into Thanksgiving," says Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. "There's a large enough number of people who want to get out there early and want to shop after their Thanksgiving meal.

Retail giant Wal-Mart — whose workers have threatened strikes and staged protests the past two years in opposition to Thanksgiving store openings — is expected to be open 24 hours, with specials beginning at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and continuing through Black Friday.

And just yesterday, Westfield Garden State Plaza, the state's largest mall, and Paramus Park, announced plans to open Thanksgiving night for the first time in the Bergen County borough's history.

The early start isn't just exclusive to brick-and-mortar retailers, though. In recent years, some online retailers have turned Thanksgiving Day into a major shopping day.

"There's research out there that says Thanksgiving is on its way to becoming the biggest e-commerce day of the year, and I believe it," says Brad Wilson, founder of BradsDeals.com.

Wal-Mart workers have staged protests and threatened strikes in recent years in opposition to the Thanksgiving store openings.

"Instead of ditching Thanksgiving dinner and heading to the mall at 6 p.m., people are bringing their smartphones and tablets to Thanksgiving and pouncing on online sales as soon as they kick off," the shopping guru says.

All the hype behind Thanksgiving Day deals have left some to wonder whether the American consumer is seeing the death of Black Friday shopping altogether.

"Thursday shopping is really more of an extension of Black Friday. Over the past seven years, retailers have started an arms race of opening earlier and earlier each year," Wilson says. "As the past few years have indicated, there won't be a major impact (to Black Friday revenue). Lots of people aren't happy with the idea of Black Friday becoming Black Thursday, but people still show up and stand in line."

Shopping even earlier

Black Friday has long been regarded as one of the biggest shopping days of the year (one explanation for the name "Black Friday" is that it's the day when most retailers go "into the black," and move from loss to profit for the year).

Not yet rid of Halloween candy and decorations, Wal-Mart launched its holiday offerings on Oct. 31, in stores and online. Beginning Nov. 1, Wal-Mart also implemented its signature "rollback" price discounts on 20,000 items at its stores. The rollback items range from an Xbox One gaming system for $349, marked down from $399, to a Dell Inspiron Touch laptop for $479 instead of $549.

A consumer survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that 35 percent of shoppers planned to begin their shopping by the end of October.

Statistics like these have compelled more and more retailers to throw open their doors on Thanksgiving Day. Despite blowback from those who believe the sanctity of the holiday is being violated, retailers and malls like Paramus Park now argue that they are merely part of a new shopping tradition.

The decision to open on Thanksgiving Day, Paramus Park management said in an emailed statement, was made "after discussions with retailers at the national and local levels and feedback from our shoppers."

"We recognize the importance of families, many of whom have started making it a tradition themselves to begin their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving," the statement said.

Staying closed

But even if Black Friday doesn't matter the way it once did, another question remains: Do all of these Thanksgiving Day shopping opportunities really have an impact on retailers' bottom lines?

Some experts say no.

In fact, opening on Thanksgiving might be starting to backfire, says Steven Pressman, an economics and finance professor at Monmouth University.

"If a store's open on Thanksgiving, some consumer will be there. If the store doesn't open on that Thursday, will that same consumer be there on Friday, Saturday or Sunday? Probably so," Pressman says.

While many retailers have caved to the competition by opening on Thanksgiving, some stores have promised to remain closed on the holiday. Among the holdouts this year are Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel, Dillard's, and Nordstrom.

"This holiday season, you've probably seen or read about all the retailers opening their doors as early as 6:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day," DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse CEO, Michael MacDonald said in a statement. "We have decided not to follow that trend. Instead, we believe family comes first and you should be at home celebrating with them on this special day."

More retailers opening on Thanksgiving simply means more competition, Pressman says — not necessarily greater profits.

"If one store opens earlier, it might be able to steal some Christmas business. Then others will start opening earlier, and pretty soon all of the stores are open on Thanksgiving," he says.

But, he stresses, "nobody's gaining as consumers are spending the same amount of money as before."

Janelle Griffith may be reached at jgriffith@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @janellefiona. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.

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