For Americans, Thanksgiving is that time when family and friends gather around the dinner table for the biggest feast of the year.
But for retailers, it’s the kickoff to the biggest shopping weekend of the year.
Retail analyst Jeff Green, who is president and CEO of Phoenix-based Jeff Green Partners, said retailers create a lot of hype around Black Friday weekend, but it's getting increasingly harder for them to make a profit.
As Black Friday weekend has grown more competitve among retailers, consumers have grown accustomed to steeply discounted items, store-wide sales and especially doorbusters, which retailers often sell at a loss.
“Retailers have trained us to shop for only value. Shop sale items," Green said. "I mean, you go into Macy’s, I’m mean how many people buy full price at Macy’s? So it’s not about having the money to do it. We’ve been taught not to do it. If we want to shop full price we’ll go to Nordstrom.”
Last year, retail sales from Thanksgiving Day to Sunday grew by a tepid 1 percent. This year, Green said he’s expecting retailers to do slightly better, with sales up anywhere between 2 and 5 percent.
