Hamilton Place mall is decked for the winter holidays and ready for shoppers. The National Retail Foundation predicts that Americans will spend some $602 billion
this holiday.
Retailers with brick-and-mortar stores count on a personal shopping experience to draw customers, as well as family-friendly perks such as this Emerson Russell playground, new this year at Hamilton Place mall.By the numbers* 3.9 percent – Projected increase in holiday sales this year over last year, up from the 3.5 percent gain from the previous year.* 15 percent – Projected increase in online holiday sales this year* 19.5 percent – Share of total retail industry sales that occur during the holidays* 36 percent – Share of Millennials who shopped on Thanksgiving Day in 2012* 720,000 – Seasonal jobs created during the holiday sales seasonSources: National Retail Federation, Shop.org
Your Thanksgiving leftovers may have to wait. Retail stores across the nation are hoping to make huge holiday shopping deals immediately after Americans finish their Thanksgiving meal this year.
Some of them will have started before breakfast.
Department stores and malls are rolling out unprecedented shopping hours, and the numbers could be there to make this the most lucrative holiday season to date. Some holiday staples, like Best Buy and Wal-Mart with their barrage of electronic goodies, are slated for a 6 p.m. Thursday opening.
Kmart has downright scared people by announcing a 6 a.m. Thanksgiving start date this year, keeping employees and stock moving for an unthinkable 41 consecutive hours through Friday night. Kmart’s investors hope this aggressive approach could spur a rebound, as the sluggish chain lost 120 stores last year.