With holiday sales starting ever earlier, is Black Friday just another day?

In the 1990s, Jeremy Parfait's family was hardcore when it came to shopping for Black Friday bargains.

“We used to get up at 4 a.m. to try to be the first in line. I remember fighting for Furbies,” Parfait said, recalling the furry, talking robots that were the must-have gift of the 1998 holiday season.

This year, Parfait and his kids had finished their holiday shopping at Lakeside Shopping Center three days before Black Friday’ had even dawned. Caroline, 10, had some hair product from Sephora and clothes from Abercrombie Kids. Lake, 8, had a mini figure set from the Lego store. The family had purchased their other gifts earlier in the month online.

“We’re trying to get it out of the way a little bit early,” Parfait said. “And, honestly, the sales start so early now, there’s no reason to wait.”

Black Friday became the official kickoff of the annual holiday shopping season in the latter half of the 20^th century. But in recent years, it has gradually been spread out over weeks of sales that now begin in early November and run through Christmas. Rare are the dawn scrambles for bargain flat-screen televisions or the year's hot toy. Instead, retailers are offering deals to get shoppers in the door earlier, well before the turkey has even started to defrost.

The growth of online shopping has fueled the shift, experts say, with e-retailers expanding Cyber Monday into weeks of promotions that target willing shoppers. Brick-and-mortar stores have responded in kind, seeking to lure shoppers into their stores ever earlier.

Lakeside spokesperson Erin Graham still expects a robust crowd this Black Friday, and is preparing to offer incentives to keep them shopping, like complimentary champagne for anyone who has already purchased at least $50 worth of merchandise and wants to sip and shop a bit longer. People enjoy Black Friday, she said, and they come for the crowds, the festive atmosphere and the experience of shopping en masse on the day after Thanksgiving.

“But everyone already has their Black Friday sales going on,” she said on Tuesday, scanning a mall that was bustling with shoppers well before noon. “Holiday shopping is already in full swing.”

Starting early

Black Friday used to have a sense of urgency about it. But that’s been changing for a while now, according to the National Retail Federation. What once was a single day of sales grew to a five-day weekend. Now, it's more than a month of online and in-store promotions that is called “Black November” by some retail experts, who note that the real kick off is in late October with Amazon Prime Day.

In 2023, consumers spent more than $955.6 billion during the weeks-long holiday shopping season, nearly 4% more than in 2022 and nearly double what they spent a decade ago. This year, that figure is expected to approach $990 billion, according to the Retail Federation.

Local shoppers say with more sales lasting longer, it only makes sense to get holiday shopping out of the way before the long Thanksgiving weekend. Like the Parfaits, Susan Zimmerman was at Lakeside on Tuesday, getting the last few items on her list — perfume for a friend, boots for her daughter in law, Legos for her grandson.

“You have to start shopping before Black Friday now because they run out of things because the sales start so early,” said Zimmerman, who once lined up outside her favorite stores in the predawn hours of Black Friday. “It’s not like it used to be.”

Indeed, Walmart was notifying its customers in an e-mail blast on Monday that its 70% off sale was ending soon, before Black Friday had even begun, though the promo said other discounts would remain available through the holiday weekend.

Stores in Lakeside also were promoting discounts days before Black Friday – 30% off at Psycho Bunny, 40% off at Madewell, 75% off fall merchandise at The Royal Standard, a Baton Rouge-based gift and apparel chain with locations across the South.

“It has already started,” said The Royal Standard’s general manager Julianna Salyer. “People started pouring in on Monday, really, and they haven’t stopped.”

Not so significant?

For some local retailers, the diffusion of Black Friday into Black November has rendered the shopping holiday effectively meaningless. At Varsity Sports, which has locations in New Orleans, Mandeville and Baton Rouge, owner Jenni Peters gives her employees the day off because the popular sporting goods stores didn’t generate enough revenues on Black Friday to justify being open.

“If people are going shopping, they want to be in the malls or the big box stores that have huge bargains,” Peters said.

Perlis, the venerable men’s clothing store that celebrates its 85th?anniversary this year, doesn’t bother with Black Friday promotions, though its four stores in New Orleans, Mandeville and Baton Rouge will be open that day.

“For us, it’s just not an overly significant day,” said third-generation owner David Perlis. “But we do have a three-week holiday promotion that started earlier this week and runs through mid-December.”