Black Friday, a day once defined by fleeting doorbuster deals, swollen crowds, snaking lines and copious amounts of coffee, is no more.
The one-day retail blitz has morphed into a multi-day shopping extravaganza, with blockbuster bargains in store aisles and online. This guide below will help you plan your adventure and score the best deals.
The paper:
The colossal Thanksgiving Day edition of the Times Union is a holiday tradition as paramount as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and pumpkin pie, if you ask me. If you too are eager to analyze the ads, the good news is you won’t have to put the turkey on hold and run out Thanksgiving morning to get a copy.
For the third year in a row, the Times Union will sell the hulking five-pound paper for $3 starting at noon Wednesday (Nov. 25) at the following locations:
- The Times Union, 645 Albany Shaker Road, Albany.
- Market Bistro by Price Chopper, 873 New Loudon Road, Latham.
- Market 32, 3045 Route 50, Wilton and Shoppers World, Route 146 and Plank Road, Clifton Park.
- Price Chopper, 1395 New Scotland Road, Slingerlands and One Kendall Way, Malta.
- Empire State Plaza Concourse by the food court or the Corning Tower entrance, Albany.
Capital Region mall hours:
Crossgates Mall: Open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day until 1 a.m. Friday. The mall reopens at 7 a.m. Black Friday and closes at 10 p.m.
Colonie Center: Open from 6 p.m. to midnight Thanksgiving Day. On Black Friday, the mall will open at 5 a.m. and close at 10 p.m.
Clifton Park Center: Open 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Wilton Mall: Opening Thanksgiving Day at 6 p.m. until midnight; reopening at 6 a.m. Black Friday until 10 p.m.
Store opening hours:
6 a.m. Thursday: Kmart (closing at 5 p.m.).
7 a.m. Thursday: Big Lots (closing at midnight, reopening at 6 a.m. Friday); Dollar General.
8 a.m. Thursday: Walgreens, Rite Aid (closing at 5 p.m. and reopening at 7 a.m. Friday).
3 p.m. Thursday: JCPenney through Friday.
4 p.m. Thursday: Old Navy.
5 p.m. Thursday: Best Buy (closing at 1 a.m., reopening at 8 a.m. Friday), Toys “R” Us, Bon-Ton.
6 p.m. Thursday: Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Sears (closing at 2 a.m., reopening at 5 a.m. Friday), Dick’s Sporting Goods (closing at 2 a.m. and reopening at 5 a.m. Friday), Five Below (closing at 1 a.m. and reopening at 7 a.m. Friday).
5 a.m. Friday: GameStop, Lowe’s, Sam’s Club, A.C. Moore,
6 a.m. Friday: The Home Depot, Staples, Christmas Tree Shops, JoAnn Fabric.
7 a.m. Friday: Sam’s Club, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Harbor Freight, PetSmart.
Holiday shopping apps:
Save time, stay sane and streamline savings with these money-saving shopping apps. All are available on both Android and iOS, free of charge.
Flipp: The location-based app delivers all the weekly sales and circulars from hundreds of retailers. Search by store, item, or savings amount and add items to an in-app shopping list.
Black Friday by FatWallet.com: Compare deals from more than 1,000 stores, swipe through retail ad-scans, get alerts when deals go live and find out if a better offer is out there.
RetailMeNot: This is one of the best go-to apps for online and in-store coupons.
Wunderlist: An organizing app that help you easily create, share and keep track of your Black Friday shopping lists.
Santa’s Bag: Set budgets for gift lists and manage each with ease. The app has various steps that are each carefully designed to make sure shoppers don’t forget anyone or anything!
Toilet Finder: Stuck in a crowd and have a sudden urge to go? This app will help you locate the nearest bathrooms at a quick glance and browse through facilities that are free to the public, handicapped-accessible and rated 5 stars by other users.
Mint: This handy personal budgeting app helps you aggregate all your accounts into one place. Keep track of spending, create a budget, receive bill reminders and more.
Online shopping tips:
So many deals will be offered online this year that waiting in line could soon be a thing of the past. Wal-Mart announced plans to offer nearly all doorbusters — about 96 percent — online starting at 3:01 a.m. on Thanksgiving. Other retailers plan to do the same. Click here to see a list of confirmed and projected online-sale start times.
Melissa Martin at BlackFriday.com offers these tips to help make sure you get the most bang for your buck:
1. Know when the sales start: The most common start times for online Black Friday deals are midnight and 5-6 a.m. Many stores offer amazing online deals on Thanksgiving, too. You can hop online to grab some deals before (or after) you finish your turkey dinner.
2. Add items to your cart now: If you see something you want online, put it in your cart now. When the sale goes live you can get it before it’s gone.
3. Look for free shipping and in-store pickup: To maximize your savings, check with your favorite stores to see if they offer free shipping or in-store pickup.
4. Print or download your receipts: Don’t forget to keep your receipts, so you can keep track of your spending.
5. You can shop online and in-store: Many Black Friday deals go live before the stores open, so you can grab online deals, and then shop in-store for the rest of the items on your list.
Best shopportunities:
The savings sleuths at BensBargains.com analyzed more than 100 Black Friday adds to hone in on some of the best in-store deals that will be offered Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Here’s what they found, along with a couple of my finds:
Top-notch 4K HDTVs:
Thanksgiving: Samsung 60″ 2160p Smart 4K Ultra HDTV Best Buy 5 p.m. $799.99 $1,499.99 Yes
Black Friday: Vizio M60-C3 60″ Full Array LED 4K Smart Ultra HDTV Dell 12 a.m. EST $800 $1,500 Online only
1080p HDTVs:
Thanksgiving: Toshiba 49″ 1080p HDTV Best Buy 5 p.m. $150
Black Friday: Samsung 55″ Smart HDTV Walmart 6 a.m. $498
Off-brand HDTVs:
Thanksgiving: Westinghouse 55″ 1080p HDTV Target 6 p.m. $250
Black Friday: TCL Roku 32″ 720p Smart HDTV Walmart 6 a.m. $124
Video game consoles:
Thanksgiving: Xbox One 500GB Gears of War Edition (includes Fallout 4 and extra controller) Dell 6 p.m. EST $299
Black Friday: Xbox One 500GB GoW Bundle (plus $60 store gift card) Target 8 a.m. $300
Video Game Software:
Thanksgiving: Disney Infinity 3.0 Starter Pack Target 6 p.m. $35
Black Friday: LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack Toys “R” Us 7 a.m. $65
Apple iPad:
Apple iPad Mini 2 16GB (plus $80 store gift card) Target 6 p.m. $269
Apple iPad Mini 2 16GB Tablet Wal-Mart 6 a.m. $199
Apple iPhone 6 (installment):
Thanksgiving: Apple iPhone 6s 16GB ($0 down plus $250 store gift card) Target 9 p.m. $0
Black Friday: Apple iPhone 6s 16GB ($0 down plus $250 store gift card) Target 9 p.m. $0
Laptops:
Thanksgiving: Asus 15.6-inch Laptop, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive Best Buy 5 p.m. $140
Black Friday: Toshiba 4th Gen Core i3 15.6″ Laptop Staples 6 a.m. $300
Fitbit:
Thanksgiving: Fitbit Flex Wireless Wristband Wal-Mart 6 p.m. $59
Black Friday: Fitbit Charge HR (Spend $100, get a $20 coupon) Dick’s Sporting Goods 5 a.m. $119
Tablets:
Thanksgiving: Amazon’s 7-inch Fire tablet Best Buy 6 p.m. $34.99
Black Friday: Samsung Galaxy Tab3 Lite Staples 6 a.m. $80
Cameras (DSLR):
Thanksgiving: Canon EOS Rebel T5 digital SLR (earn $120 in Kohl’s Cash) Kohl’s 6 p.m. $399
Black Friday: Canon T5 with 2 Lenses bundle (bag/memory card) Sam’s Club 7 a.m. $399
Holiday price matching:
Price-matching promotions are a key marketing tool for retailers looking to drive in-store traffic and meet or beat a competitor’s price. During the Black Friday/Thanksgiving holiday shopping extravaganza, however, some retailers tend to tweak things a bit. Here’s a rundown of select retailers’ holiday price match policies. One caveat, exclusions often apply and corporate changes can be made at any time. Check with management.
Target: The store typically price-matches dozens of competitors’ store and online prices. However, according to the info available online now, matches for prices offered Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 by Target, Target.com or a competitor’s ad or online price are excluded.
Wal-Mart: The store will ad-match Black Friday prices, online or in store, but the item must be in stock and all price matching is at the manager’s discretion. Items with a one-hour guarantee are excluded. Walmart.com will also match the price of select online retailers.
Toys “R” Us: The popular toy store general matches competitor’s prices in-store. However, price matching from print ad advertisements will be suspended for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. They will also not price match online prices for the week of Black Friday from Sunday, Nov. 22 through Cyber Monday, Nov. 1.
Best Buy: Price-matching is common practice, but items for sale Thanksgiving day through the Monday after Thanksgiving, whether offered by Best Buy or a competitor, are excluded.
Kohl’s: The store will match a competitor’s in-store price for an identical product sold in Kohl’s stores. Just bring a copy of the competitor’s ad with the current date on it to your nearest Kohl’s Department Store. Matching is at the manager’s discretion and some exclusions apply.
JCPenney: The department store will match any similar local competitor’s current advertised price on identical items carried in-store. You must present the competitor’s ad to the clerk. They will not match online or mobile prices.
Sears: Although they routinely price match competitors’ in-store and online prices, they put a hold on the practice Thanksgiving Day through the Wednesday after Thanksgiving.
Lowe’s: Lowe’s will meet and beat the price for an identical product at any local retail competitor by 10 percent. Bring in the competitor’s current ad; some restrictions apply.
Home Depot: Find a current lower price on an identical, in-stock item from a competing retailer and Home Depot will meet and beat the price by 10 percent.
With Shannon Fromma