Events

HHgregg CEO Dennis May said the retailer is approaching Black Friday differently this year, including opening its stores earlier than Best Buy on Thanksgiving Day and offering 40% storewide discounts.

HHgregg will open its stores at 4 p.m. on the holiday, an hour earlier than Best Buy and two hours earlier than most other retailers who plan to open Thanksgiving Day. The retailer also said its Black Friday Now promotion will begin Nov. 20 and run through Nov. 29 and will offer up to 40% off all items in the store.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores will be open from 6-9 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, and will re-open on Black Friday, Nov. 28, at 8 a.m. with doorbuster deals. Office Depot and OfficeMax will offer special deals both in stores and online, with all online Black Friday deals starting at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 27.  

New York -- Panasonic has unveiled a pop-up store in New York City's Union Square area featuring a collection of Panasonic's latest consumer products from the home, adventure, imaging, entertainment and beauty categories for shoppers planning their holiday gift-giving.  

Sears is offering early access to Black Friday deals as a means to entice customers to join its free Shop Your Way membership-based loyalty program.

The retailer said its Shop Your Way members can begin Black Friday a week early at Sears.com when exclusive pricing on key items becomes available at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20. Then on Thanksgiving Day, Sears stores will open at 6 p.m. with more than 1,000 doorbuster deals continuing through 1 p.m. on Black Friday.

Walmart EVP of merchandise operations Scott Huff is scheduled to address members of the Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce at an upcoming event.

The Grommet is partnering with a store in Boston to launch a “pop-in” shop on Nov. 20 as part of an effort to bridge the gap between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores.

With so many consumers on the hunt for unique holiday gifts, the Grommet said it wants shoppers to be able to touch, test and purchase the company’s offerings. The “pop-in” Grommet shop will be located within Boston boutique Michelle Willey and be open from Nov. 20 through the end of December.

Cincinnati –- Half of all consumers dislike the idea of all-day Thanksgiving store shopping hours, although younger consumers are more open to it.   According to a survey of 1,001 U.S. consumers by loyalty services provider Loyalty One, 50% say all-day shopping hours on Thanksgiving Day are a bad idea that detracts from the traditional celebration.  

General Growth Properties has unveiled Adventure to Santa, a DreamWorks DreamPlace first-of-its-kind holiday experience that starts with Shrek, ends with Santa and seamlessly blends storytelling with cutting-edge technology.   

Walmart continues to expand its view of Black Friday and is encouraging shoppers to do the same by rethinking the practice of waiting in line on Black Friday to secure limited quantities of merchandise.

Arts and Crafts retailer A.C. Moore launched its inaugural campaign to benefit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation with a program involving all its stores.

The company’s 140 locations will serve as official drop off locations for the program with every toy donated going to a child in the local community. In addition, the company has pledged to donate 25,000 toys and is asking its customers to help double the donation with an additional 25,000 toys to provide a total of 50,000 toys to kids this holiday season.