A line of about 100 people snaked around the Toys R Us on Abercorn Street on Thursday evening as a clerk named Estevan sang an off-key version of the store’s “I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid” theme song with a few willing customers.
With 10 minutes ’til open, parents huddled against the chill as they listed the things they were looking to buy their kids: tablets, game consoles, train sets and any merchandise related to the Disney blockbuster “Frozen.”
For years, Black Friday has served as the manic kickoff to the holiday shopping season and still does in many ways, as most Americans plan to do their shopping that day, according to the National Retail Federation.
Yet big retailers, hurt by a year of lackluster sales and weak consumer spending, continue pushing their open times earlier and earlier — and discounts deeper and deeper — resulting in a two-day wave of customers trying to snag deals.
This year, most of Savannah’s big retail chains were open by 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Lines of well-fed shoppers formed outside Belk, Best Buy and Target at Savannah Mall, among others places that advertised discounts on big-ticket items.
Brunswick resident Amy Potter, one of the first in line at Toys R Us, said she hoped to get a Nintendo 3DS and mini-trampoline for her 12-year-old son. She and her boyfriend, Edwin Carr, pushed their holiday meal back to noon just to make the trip but had mixed feelings about Black Thursday’s encroachment on the family holiday.
“It’s horrible, honestly. It’s too early and cuts into Thanksgiving,” said Carr, who said it was still worth coming out for the doorbuster deals.
Potter said early-bird shopping has become her tradition, and she’s even formed a strategy for getting out faster.
“A lot of times what we’ll do is one of us will get in line while we take turns going and getting what we want so we can get checked out and hit another store,” she said.
At Macy’s, with 30 minutes to open, employees buzzed around the store getting their stations set up. A few got in some early shopping, too, carrying bullet blenders, sheets and apparel down the escalator as store manager Stephen Holman called all staff to the cosmetics section for a pre-meeting.
“Our first worry is we hate to go into people’s Thanksgiving Day, but all the people you see here have picked up shifts voluntarily,” said Holman.
The Oglethorpe Macy’s employees get time-and-a-half and catered meals during their breaks, said Holman, making it a popular shift. The orchestration that it takes for a major department store to carry off the weekend is a mammoth task, with seven total shift changes and short-hour shifts thrown in.
Macy’s offered close to 300 doorbuster deals this year and the Savannah store had more online orders for in-store pickup than any other Macy’s in the district, including those in Atlanta.
Holman said one retail trend Macy’s has embraced is speeding up the transaction time with employees equipped with portable tablets utilizing point-of-sale systems. He said technology, combined with vendors coming up with new promotions to lure shoppers away from their computers and into stores, will be the way forward.
“Areas that normally are not involved, like cosmetics, those vendors have found a way to get into it,” he said. “So every year the store is going to have something to offer for the customer.”
He said Macy’s did well opening earlier last year, at 8 p.m., and is optimistic this year will be just as good thanks to the increase in promotions, including the giveaway of $1 million in gift cards ranging from $10 to $250.
“As opposed to years before, we do about a fourth of the business that we did when we traditionally opened (at 6 a.m. Friday),” he said. “It’s that beneficial.”
Before the staff meeting, an employee named Cindy Seckinger let out a little “woo” as she picked up a red single-strap Michael Kors purse from a display.
“This is what I’m working for today,” she said. “I’m gonna go ahead and put this on my shoulder.”
A few minutes before open, employee Doug Blair and Sharon Kearney prepared to remove the blocks on the doors as eager customers looked on.
“I want to see y’all get away in one piece,” joked an employee who was walking by.
“This isn’t my first time at the rodeo,” replied Kearney.
“The things we do for Sticky Fingers,” said Blair.
A survey of some of the first customers found that most were just there to browse. Also telling, many mentioned online shopping as their primary or supplemental source for holiday gifts.
Christie Lawrence, from Richmond Hill, was one of the first to come through the doors at 6 p.m. with her sister-in-law Montisa Lawrence and mother-in-law Johnnie.
“We definitely could be here all night, but what we don’t finish here we’ll go home and do online,” she said, describing her mix between online and in-store shopping as 50/50.
Mother and daughter shoppers Carole Love and Caitlin Love said they also do a lot of shopping online but wanted to get out of the house and check out some of the deals.
“This is our first Black Thursday,” said Carole. “It’s definitely an adventure.”