Recession upends retail calendar

Black Friday will arrive before Halloween this year, as the recession upends the retail calendar.

Sears announced Wednesday that it is launching a sales campaign called Black Friday Now that will feature weekly big discounts through Thanksgiving. The sale, which will begin Friday at 5 p.m., includes $80 diamond earrings and 50 percent off a 302-piece Craftsman tool set.

Retailers have been champing at the bit to go after Christmas sales this year. Price warfare has already erupted for sales of books and toys. Wal-Mart began slashing prices on holiday staples and gifts last week, discounting a popular skateboard-cum-snowboard called the RipStick by 27 percent, to $49. Toys R Us unveiled its plan to open 80 temporary stores across the country back in September.

"They're definitely thinking about the holidays sooner rather than later this year," Sears spokeswoman Natalie Norris-Howser said of the chain's shoppers.

Black Friday refers to the shopping bonanza that occurs the day after Thanksgiving, when stores typically offer dramatic discounts to kick off the holiday season. Shoppers line up for hours for a chance to score a deal.

Norris-Howser said many Sears customers had asked for Black Friday-style sales without the crowds. In addition, the retailer and its sister company, Kmart, have been heavily promoting layaway this year, and the early start gives shoppers a chance to pay for their gifts over time.

"A lot of them don't necessarily like to get up and do the panic Friday shopping the day after Thanksgiving," she said.

The chain faces aggressive competition as the industry confronts newly frugal consumers who may have lost their jobs or watched their home values plummet. Many of Wal-Mart's discounts will be the steepest in years, Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright said.

"We made a purposeful decision to focus initially on everyday staples as well as items that often require larger spending commitments in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas," Castro-Wright said.

Wal-Mart sparked a battle over book prices when it cut the cost of 10 popular bestsellers to $10. After Amazon met the price, Wal-Mart lowered it again to $8.99 -- and then once more by a penny when Target matched it.

But not every retailer is hammering home the price message. Macy's announced Wednesday that its holiday campaign would center on the famous 1897 New York Sun editorial that included the famous line, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." About 20 online merchants that use PayPal plan to start offering a variety of incentives to shoppers on Tuesday.

All this comes before consumers have even eaten their candy corn. Dealnews.com editor Dan de Grandpre said that every year a few stores pull the trigger early and reap the publicity benefits.

"It's fun," de Grandpre said. "As a consumer you get to pick and choose."