Toys“R”Us Plans Black Friday Shopping Marathon

Toys“R”Us plans to get the most out of Black Friday, Chain Store Age reports.

While some malls and retailers plan to stay closed for Thanksgiving, nearly all Toys“R”Us locations will be open for 30 hours straight, from 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving to 11 p.m. on Friday.

Chain Store Age quotes Joe Venezia, executive vice president, global store operations, at Toys“R”Us: “Our customers have voted at the doors year after year, and they continue to want the option to get an early start on their holiday shopping lists.”

In preparation for the holiday rush, Toys“R”Us locations will come equipped with large, digital maps at the entrance where shoppers can search for the location of specific items for a speedier shopping experience.

Toy experts will be available for consultation, and an express lane will open between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve for shoppers purchasing four items or fewer. Toys“R”Us will also offer free shipping and free layaway for online purchases over $19.

Other retailers have different plans for navigating this holiday season. Some are banking on Super Saturday (Dec. 17) to outside sales from even Black Friday. Amazon isn’t even waiting on Thanksgiving — its goal is for a Black November. Some data even shows that almost a third of customers complete holiday gift buying as of Nov. 1.

Whichever plan retailers choose, there’s a projected $1 billion per day in online holiday sales up for grabs, and Black Friday sales are projected to exceed $3 billion for the first time in history.