The earlier start times follow a trend among retailers eager to gain an edge on the holiday shopping blitz.
Diana Neglin and Nikki Williams do Black Friday shopping at Palmer Park Mall in this 2010 photo. Palmer Park, Phillipsburg, Lehigh Valley and South malls are opening midnight Thanksgiving fro Black Friday shopping this year, following a trend of earlier start times by retailers seeking to gain an edge on the holiday shopping season.
Whether the advance kickoff will make a dent in holiday sales this year is unclear, though a Wells Fargo forecast says conditions are ripe for a modest increase.
Palmer Park, Phillipsburg and South malls, all owned by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, said this week they will open at midnight Nov. 22. So will Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township, owned by Simon Property Group Inc.
“The midnight opening and exclusive discounts create an enjoyable, convenient experience for the official kickoff of the holiday shopping season,” Brian Molchany, general manager for Palmer Park and South malls, said in a statement.
Palmer Park and South malls, based respectively in Palmer Township and Allentown and Phillipsburg Mall, straddling Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships, each opened at 5 a.m. Black Friday last year. Lehigh Valley Mall opened at 4 a.m. last year with midnight options for some stores.
The trend toward earlier starts coincides with a push among retailers to gain an edge on the holiday shopping blitz, though strategies differ among individual stores.
Wal-Mart, Target and Sears are opening at varying points Thanksgiving night while Macy’s, Kohl’s, and The Bon-Ton have said they will open midnight. J.C. Penney plans to open 6 a.m. Black Friday.
The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley is bucking the trend for the most part, opening one hour earlier than normal at 9 a.m. Black Friday. Promenade Shops assistant manager Melissa DiLazaro said Wednesday individual tenants can open sooner at their discretion.
“We’re kind of a different shopping center, a little bit more relaxed,” DiLazaro said of the Upper Saucon Township outdoor mall.
The mostly earlier starts extend a shopping season that is already bound to be longer than 2011. Thanksgiving falls two days earlier this year and Christmas falls on a Tuesday, giving shoppers one more weekend than 2011.
That's partly the reason Wells Fargo has projected a 3.8 percent increase in holiday sales from 2011 levels, a level financial company describes as "modest but above average." Sales rose a more robust 5.7 percent last year.
Wells Fargo said headwinds like sluggish job growth, the looming "fiscal cliff" in Congress and tight disposable income will limit consumer spending. However better credit conditions and the longer shopping season should aid results, Wells Fargo said in a report.
"The positive momentum in consumer confidence over the past few months will be balanced by slow personal income gains and economic uncertainty abroad along with uncertainty over domestic fiscal policy," Wells Fargo economists wrote.