FORT WAYNE – Retailers are eager as ever to get their share of shoppers’ holiday budgets.
About 134 million shoppers will hit the stores Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the National Retail Federation has predicted. But they’ll probably be spending less. Michael Hicks, director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University, forecast overall spending will be down 1 percent this year compared to last year.
But even with tighter budgets, many shoppers will be treating themselves this year. A Consumer Reports poll found 66 percent of Black Friday weekend shoppers say they plan to shop for themselves.
To make it easier, we’ve compiled the opening times for some area retailers. We’ve divided them by opening hour so shoppers can plan their strategies: hit stores the moment they open, then move on to the next wave of Black Friday sales.
