Monday, October 23, 2006

Mall to Open at 12am post Turkey Day

Bejota I'm sure is excited about this. On the other hand, my feelings on this can be quickly summed up as such:

"Ravioli, holy canol!"
"Shoot me now, God"

The Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest shopping days of the year and many retailers open their doors early to the throng of shoppers searching for holiday bargains. But for some shoppers, 5 a.m. just isn't early enough.

This year, Albertville Premium Outlets will open at midnight on Nov. 24 for "Midnight Madness," giving customers an extra five hours of shopping. About half of its more than 100 tenants plan to participate, including all of the largest tenants.

The mall's parent company, Roseland, N.J.-based Chelsea Premium Outlets Inc. -- a division of leading mall developer Simon Property Group -- rolled out the midnight program at eight of its shopping centers last year.

"Parking lots last year were almost full by 1 a.m. and they stayed full throughout the night and throughout the day," Chelsea spokeswoman Jamilyah Smith-Kanze said.

Buzz Anderson, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association, said he expects other retailers to follow suit with earlier openings.

"One thing retailers really try to do is to make shopping fun, and there's probably a large segment of people who probably can't wait to go shopping at midnight," he said.

The idea isn't certain to succeed, though. It could be challenging for some retailers to staff the additional hours and it also might be difficult to maintain the early momentum.

"I think this is something people are throwing out to put a new spin on Black Friday, and we'll just have to see where it goes," Anderson said. "It could end up being a big dud."

2 Comments:

At October 23, 2006 9:19 AM, Blogger Alicia said...

Poke. My. Eyes. Out.

 
At October 24, 2006 6:52 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I second Alecia's comment!

 

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