We have hardly said goodbye to the ghosts and goblins of Halloween, but it's time to get primed for Christmas.
Target Corp. attempted to jump-start the holiday promotional blitz early Thursday by rolling out its Black Friday print and television advertisements with specials that started immediately.
Target and Walmart also announced they would equip store employees with handheld devices that will enable shoppers to skip the checkout lines and buy their merchandise right from the store aisles.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said it will open stores at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, the Mall of America announced it will close for the holiday for the third year in a row, though anchor stores with separate entrances can open if they want.
With a mere three weeks until Black Friday, Sirius XM has launched holiday music channels, the Hallmark Channel has rolled out its stream of holiday movies and the nation's biggest retailers are jockeying to be the first, the flashiest and most fun.
As mass merchants such as Sears and Toys 'R' Us shutter stores, analysts expect retailers to get creative with discounts and store events hoping to pull people through their doors.
Consumer confidence is higher than its been in years, and shoppers are expected to spend an average of $638 on gifts this year, according to the National Retail Federation, a jump of 4.1 percent over last year. Online sales are expected to increase almost 15 percent, forecasts by Adobe Analytics show.
Like Target, Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl's trumpeted a one-day-only Black Friday sales event on Thursday along with other holiday season deals. Walmart offered doorbuster deals in an "early-access pre-Black Friday sale."