Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Shopping chances abound on Thanksgiving
Many malls and department stores in the area plan to kick off Christmas shopping season on Thursday night
Many malls are set to start the season Thursday before the Turkey Day plates have been cleared away.
There will be plenty of options again this year for area residents who simply can’t wait until after Thanksgiving to get on with their holiday shopping and who enjoy getting out of the house after a big meal.
Many area malls – or large stores in those malls – are set to start the season Thursday before many of the Turkey Day plates have been cleared away.
Within the region, malls operated by Simon Properties – King of Prussia, Lehigh Valley, Montgomery, Oxford Valley and Quaker Bridge Malls – will be open from 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving through 1 a.m. on Friday. The malls will reopen at 6 a.m. on Black Friday and will close at 10 p.m.
Philadelphia Premium Outlets will be open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
Many of the area PREIT malls also will be active with shoppers Thursday night.
Open Thanksgiving from 6 p.m. to midnight are Cherry Hill, Willow Grove Park and Springfield malls.
At the Exton Square Mall, Macy’s will be open from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving while Boscov’s has hours of 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Many of Exton’s smaller retailers will be open sometime between the hours of 6 p.m. and midnight on Thanksgiving, mall management said.
Closed on Thanksgiving are PREIT malls Gallery II, Moorestown Mall and Plymouth Meeting Mall.
All PREIT malls will open at
“Having closely observed traffic patterns and retailer demand over the past several years, we have carefully selected some of our properties to open on Thanksgiving.” – PREIT statement
6 a.m. on Black Friday.
In an email, PREIT explained why some of its malls will open on Thanksgiving while others will wait until Black Friday morning.
“Having closely observed traffic patterns and retailer demand over the past several years, we have carefully selected some of our properties to open on Thanksgiving,” the company said. “The decision to close certain properties until Black Friday morning reflects our attempt to balance the mall and retail associates’ time with their families with shopper demand and our retail partners’ success.”
At Coventry Mall near Pottstown, managed by Pennmark at Coventry Management Co., Boscov’s, Kohl’s and Dick’s will all open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving night. Coventry will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Black Friday.
The Christmas shopping
season has always been crucial to brick-and-mortar retailers. The term Black Friday is often used to describe the day when retailers would go from losses to profits for the year, or from red ink to black ink.
The late-year shopping season has taken on new importance for stores in recent years as online shopping has increased in popularity. Expectations are mixed for this year’s shopping season, however.
According to its annual survey of consumer holiday spending in the Greater Philadelphia area, international consulting company Deloitte found:
• Philadelphia area consumers expect to decrease their total holiday spending by 19 percent. The biggest decline in spending is in non-gifts, which is down 23 percent. The trend is consistent with national results.
• When compared to national responses, Greater Philadelphia respondents expect to spend slightly more than the national consumer – $1,010 compared to $998.
• The internet is Greater Philadelphia respondents’ No. 1 choice for gift buying this year. This is a continued trend, only slightly down from 2015. Greater Philadelphia respondents indicated that crowds continue to be the top reason for not shopping in stores, along with long lines and slow checkout.
• Despite decline in foot traffic, 44 percent (47 percent nationally) of the amount spent of Christmas shopping is still expected to happen at the store, according to the surveyed Greater Philadelphia consumers.
• Consumers surveyed said they will shop local stores primarily to support the local economy or find one-of-a-kind gifts.
• Smartphone ownership is now at 84 percent among those surveyed in Greater Philadelphia, compared to 83 percent nationally (up 12 percent from two years ago). Tablet ownership is also up significantly from 2014. Those devices will assist in online holiday shopping.
KeyBank also did a Holiday
Spending Survey that showed more than 50 percent of respondents don’t feel confident about their financial fitness this holiday season. Still, 51 percent of respondents in that survey said they will spend more in 2016 than in 2015. Fortynine percent of respondents plan to spend equal to or less than 2015.
The results are based on a survey conducted at King of Prussia Mall between Nov. 4 and Nov. 13. Nearly 1,000 people participated.
“When people experience financial anxiety around the holidays, it’s often because they don’t have a spending plan,” said Robert Kane, president, Eastern Pennsylvania Market of Albany, N.Y.-based KeyBank. “Our goal with this survey is to get people thinking about their holiday budget earlier than usual so they can make better decisions and feel less stress.”