Retailers gear up for Friday
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on November 23, 2016 6:00 PM
Full SizeRetailers in the Goldsboro area are stocked with merchandise and ready for the Black Friday customer rush that starts Thanksgiving Day.
Several stores were already offering deals this week and many plan to keep up the pace by offering sales throughout the weekend.
"We're expecting the toy department to be the big seller of the weekend," said Michael Newsome, general manager of Kmart on Berkeley Boulevard. "We have sales in every department. I think we're prepared and ready, and we appreciate the business from the community."
With fewer Kmart stores in surrounding cities, many customers typically travel into Goldsboro from other areas for the holiday shopping weekend, Newsome said.
Kmart plans to be open from 6 a.m. Thursday until 10 p.m. Friday, with doorbuster sales from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and from 7 p.m. Thursday until 2 p.m. Friday. Kmart will have special deals three days in a row, starting Thanksgiving Day.
Nearly 95 employees will work rotating shifts throughout the weekend, and safety protocols have been set for the large number of customers expected to visit the store.
Some of the deals include Barbie dolls for $2.99, board games for $4.99 and trampolines for $149, Newsome said. Bicycles, shoe sales and winter apparel discounts are also popular. Customers who purchase one pair of shoes can get a second pair for $1.
"It's the busiest weekend of the year," Newsome said. "We are ready, we've got the merchandise, and the associates are prepared."
Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving -- remains the biggest shopping day of the year and is named after an accounting term used when businesses record profits, instead of red, which reflects revenue losses.
The National Retail Federation expects retail sales in November and December to increase by 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion from profits recorded a year ago. Online sales area also expected to increase between 7 and 10 percent over last year to $117 billion, according to the NRF.
Americans plan to spend an average of nearly $936 during the holiday shopping season, according to NRF's survey conducted by Prosper Insights.
The Target store in Goldsboro, like others with early opening hours Thursday or Friday, is expected to draw long lines of people waiting for the doors to open.
Target will open at 6 p.m. Thursday and continue to operate until 11 p.m. Friday, said Jessica McDermott, Target general manager.
The store's Black Friday sales will be offered three days, Thursday through Saturday.
"It's going to be great," McDermott said. "Every year, they line up all around the building. This year, we have a lot of good deals across the board.
"The things we're excited about are, obviously, toys. We've got some great electronic deals. All of our apparel is 30 percent off for the three days."
Target plans to hand out tickets for a select number of specially priced 60-, 50- and 43-inch televisions starting 30 minutes before the doors open Thursday. The tickets will be given to customers on a first-come, first-serve basis.
In addition to wide-screen TVs, iPads, Apple watches and Fitbit fitness trackers, all at reduced prices, are expected to be popular, McDermott said.
"It's my favorite weekend of the year," she said. "We spend months preparing for this day and weekend, and we really try to make it as seamless as possible for our customers."