The nation's biggest retailers have been slashing prices all fall, but shoppers can expect to see the bottom of the discount market the day after Thanksgiving.
After making a few calls around town, here's our advice: Eat a big meal on Thursday, because the best holiday deals will be found on Friday - and early.
Although the big shopping day looms, store manager Geoff Thurston wasn't at liberty to discuss some of the best buys.
The discounts are a closely held trade secret.
Thurston, however, did say the first shoppers through Penney's doors will get additional “doorbuster” discount coupons.
“Huge discounts,” Thurston said.
Not to be ignored, Macy's will open its doors at 5 a.m., offering morning specials until 1 p.m.
“We will have a lot of specials, similar to one-day sales,” said Brian Murray, Macy's Missoula manager.
“We will also be open early on Saturday, and will offer similar specials from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” Murray said. “There will be a lot of coupons and newspaper inserts tied to Black Friday and I advise people to really keep an eye out for those.”
According to the many “Black Friday” Web sites, which pride themselves in ferreting out the discount offerings long before big box stores are ready to talk about them, Missoula's Reserve Street shopping strip will be a great place for a treasure hunt.
Old Navy, Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Target, you name it. They are all prepared to woo holiday shoppers with wallet-friendly discount specials.
Missoula's downtown specialty stores are also doing their part to sweeten sales.
At the Trail Head, owner Todd Frank is offering a buy-two, get-one-free deal with any purchase of the recreation retailer's selection of all-weather performance socks, which includes Smartwool, Patagonia, Darn Tough and Icebreaker.
His rationale?
“Good socks make a great gift, and in tough economic times, quality is very important,” Frank said. “People may not want to spend as much - or can't spend as much - but what they do spend, they want to make sure they are getting quality for what they are spending.”
Coco Atelier, an upscale women's boutique on Higgins Avenue, will be offering a 30 percent discount on handbags, jewelry and accessories, said owner Alice Marquardt.
Yes, the discounts are to entice shoppers into the store, but they are also a way to say thanks to Coco's clientele for a great season, Marquardt said.
Like the Trail Head, Coco's special and sales will continue through the holiday shopping season. And like many of the downtown retailers, Coco will expand its store hours, including staying open on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
In the heart of the city, Bob Ward & Sons is looking forward to helping holiday shoppers find quality items at great value.
“During these times, we actually find that we can offer even better deals,” said Chad Ward, vice president. “Because of the national economic downturn, there tends to be a lot of great deals and closeouts available for us to buy.
“We try to buy in large quantities to get even better pricing, which we are then able to pass on to our customers.”
Black Friday is a great day to take advantage of the store's special pricing, Ward said.
Bob Ward will open its doors at 7 a.m. on Black Friday and for the first three hours, until 10 a.m., will offer up its best products “at incredibly low deals that have almost never been seen before and possibly will not be seen again.”
The store will also hand out coupons for an additional $20 off to the first 100 customers through the door.
Some of the best deals? Kids' winter boots originally priced at $25 will sell for $9.99. A winter parka from Sportier originally $90 will sell for $19.99. Fleece vests for $5.99 and fleece jackets for $8.99.
All you need now is a plan.
How to survive a busy shopping day
Here are some holiday shopping tips to help bag the best bargains, adapted from Consumer World:
Read the ads: Check today's newspaper. It's chock-full of circulars and last-minute deals. And Friday's Missoulian will include additional sales and circulars.
Evaluate the deals: Not all advertised items are great deals, particularly this year. Use several Internet shopping robots, such as the Price Checker in Consumer World, or the ones at Shopping.com, PriceGrabber.com, or PriceSpider.com (with price histories) to compare what a variety of online stores charge for the same item. If shopping online, find out the total price including shipping and tax (if any), and what the reputation of the seller is (use Shopzilla.com or ResellerRatings.com).
Research the right product: A low price on a lousy product is no bargain. Check Web sites where professionals evaluate products, such as Consumer Reports, Steves-Digicams.com (for cameras), Ecoustics.com (TV/hi-fi equipment), PCMagazine.com (computers), best/worst toy lists, etc. Also, nothing beats reading customer reviews by real owners of the products you are thinking of buying. Check Epinions.com, and read the user comments posted after most product descriptions at Amazon.com.
Save with “triple plays”: To save the most, combine the primary ways to save. Buy items at a good sale price, use percent-off/dollars-off coupons offered by some stores to lower that price even more, and look for items that also have a cash-back rebate.
Be an early bird: Look for “doorbuster” deals as early as 4 a.m. (Best Buy is giving out numbers for its hottest deals starting at 3 a.m.) Plot your route from store to store based on store opening times, and because quantities are limited, arrive before the doors open. Send family members to different stores if opening times conflict.
Some of the best deals this year include: a Kenmore front-loading washer and dryer pair for $599.99 (Sears); Sharp 46-inch full HDTV for $899.99 (Sears); Samsung 40-inch full HDTV - $799.99 (Best Buy); TomTom One 3rd Ed. GPS - $69.99 after rebate (Pep Boys); Western Digital 750-gig external hard drive - $88.88 (Target); an 8G flash drive for $12.99 a/r (Staples).
Check the return policy: Before buying, find out the store's return policy. While many stores have extended their return deadlines into January, others are clamping down by imposing restocking fees on certain categories of items, or by using a blacklisting database or returns tracking system to deny refunds to returns abusers.
Get a gift receipt: Make returns easier for gift recipients by asking the store for a gift receipt and include it in the gift box. Without a receipt, a refund may be denied outright, or may be limited to only an equal exchange, or to a merchandise credit for the lowest price the item has sold for in the recent past.
Use the right credit card: Certain credit cards offer valuable free benefits. For example, don't be pressured into buying a service contract when you can get up to an extra year of warranty coverage free just by using most gold or platinum credit cards. Ask your credit card issuer what length warranties qualify for an extra year of coverage, if any. Some credit cards also offer a return protection guarantee (they will refund the purchase price within 90 days if the store will not), or a sale price guarantee (they will give you back the difference if an item goes on sale within 60 days of purchase).
Save more with price guarantees: The bargain shopping process does not end with a product purchase. Keep checking the prices of the items you bought. Since many stores offer a price protection guarantee, you may be entitled to get back some additional money if the seller or a competitor offers a lower price before Christmas.
Consumer World is a public service, noncommercial consumer resource guide. Founder Edgar Dworsky is a former assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.
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