Winter Holidays

With only a few days to go until Christmas retailers are already positioning themselves for post holiday success by touting promotions to capitalize on gift card redemptions. Target and JCPenney this week announced special incentives that begin the day after Christmas when both plan to open at 7 a.m.

New York - Macy’s Inc. said Monday that 14 of its stores, including Herald Square and Queens Center in New York, will remain open 24-hours-a-day until Christmas.

The extended hours begin on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

The stores, which are located in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, Michigan and Minnesota, will be joined by another slate of nine stores that will stay open until 2 a.m., located in New York, New Jersey, California and Massachusetts.

PLANO, Texas - JCPenney announced that it will opens its doors at 7 a.m. on Dec. 26 for its biggest After Christmas Sale ever. Customers visiting JCPenney the day after Christmas can find extended store hours, free shipping offers on jcp.com and over 100 “Doorbuster” specials from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., highlighted in JCPenney’s expanded 48-page sales circular, the company reported. 

Competition in the toy category is intense every holiday season, but it seems to have been ratcheted up a few notches this year, and Target was one of the companies doing the ratcheting. The company’s aggressive pricing moves put it in close proximity to Walmart early in the season and more recently Target’s toys were less expensive than Walmart’s, according to a pricing survey conducted by Citigroup retail analyst Deb Weinswig.

The small ad was a little lost on the bottom of page 36 of Target’s 40-page holiday circular this week, but there among an offering of floor care products was a reminder of a Facebook initiative that could be worth as much as $50,000 to the Kids In Need Foundation. The ad encouraged readers to visit Facebook.com/TargetGiveJoy to create a wish list of up to five items for a chance to win a gift card equal in value to those items with Kids In Need receiving a $5 donation for each wish list submitted up to a total of $50,000. The program ends at midnight on Christmas.

Walmart has been a non-player in toys this year, according to Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Digital Strategies at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. He was quoted in a Bloomberg article this week about how Walmart increased toy prices after Thanksgiving weekend. Johnson is regarded as something of a toy expert, so he pops up in holiday stories and he has been critical of Walmart this year.

WAYNE, N.J. - Toys"R"Us announced that, for the first time ever, its stores nationwide will remain open for 88 consecutive hours beginning at 6 a.m. on Dec. 21 and continuing through 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Kmart announced it will offer last-minute holiday shoppers reduced prices on more than 1,400 must-have toys to help shoppers finish their Christmas lists. In addition to extended store hours, Kmart will offer special deals on toys starting today through Dec. 24.

Additionally, Kmart said it is offering customers special deals on popular items every kid has on their list. For example, when you purchase toys like Lego, Kung Zhu and remote control cars, deep discounts will be offered on the second purchase.