Black Friday sales boost deals and longer store hours

Context: Around 182 million people will shop in-store and online during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend that goes through Cyber Monday, 15.7 million more people than last year, the NRF estimates.

• Sensormatic, which tracks store traffic, projects Black Friday as the busiest shopping day in the U.S., followed by Super Saturday (Dec. 23) and the third Saturday in December (Dec. 16).

Meanwhile, prices of popular holiday items will see deeper cuts online compared to last year's discounts, per Adobe Analytics data.

• Shoppers are expected to spend $37.2 billion online over the five days, up 5.4% from the period last year, Axios' Hope King reports from Adobe data.

What we're watching: It will be interesting to see whether the NFL's first-ever Black Friday game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins on Amazon Prime Video drives shoppers to leave physical stores ahead of it.

• The game starts at 3pm ET and it's available for all to watch, even non-Prime members.

Black Friday 2023: Early store openings

Details: Kohl's, JCPenney and GameStop have the earliest opening time Friday at 5am.

• Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe's and Macy's open at 6am.
• Marshalls, T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods open at 7am.
• More stores will open at 8am and beyond.

Black Friday store hours 2023: When to shop

Store hours can vary but here are when the nation's largest retailers will open Friday. In some cases, hours vary greatly so check with your closest stores.

• Academy Sports + Outdoors: 5am to 11pm
• Apple: Varies
• Athleta: Varies
• At Home: 6am to 9pm
• Banana Republic: Varies
• Barnes & Noble: 8am to 9pm
• Bass Pro Shops: 5am to 9pm
• Bath & Body Works: Hours vary, but many open at 6am
• Belk: 7am to 10pm
• Best Buy: 6am to 10pm
• Big Lots: 6am to 11pm
• BJ's Wholesale Club: Open 7am
• Burlington: 7am to midnight
• Costco Wholesale Club: Varies, but most 9am to 8:30pm
• CVS: Regular hours
• Dick's Sporting Goods: 6am to 10pm
• Dillard's: 9am to 8pm
• DSW: Varies, but most open 8am to 9pm
• Five Below: 8am to 10pm
• GameStop: Stores open as early as 5am
• Gap: Varies
• Guitar Center: 8am to 9pm
• Hobby Lobby: 8am to 9pm
• Home Depot: Open 6am
• HomeGoods: 7am to 10pm
• H&M: Varies
• JCPenney: 5am to 10pm
• Joann Stores: 6am to 9pm
• Kohl's: 5am to 11pm
• Lowe's: Open 6am
• Macy's: 6am to 10:59pm
• Marshalls: 7am to 10pm
• Menards: Open 6am
• Michaels: 7am to 10pm
• Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack: Hours vary
• Office Depot/OfficeMax: 8am to 8pm
• Old Navy: Hours vary with some locations opening at 5am
• Petco: Varies, most open at 8am
• PetSmart: 7am to 9pm
• Sam's Club: Varies by membership level
• Sephora: Varies
• Shoe Carnival: Varies
• Staples: 9am to 8pm
• Target: 7am to 10pm
• T.J. Maxx: 7am to 10pm
• Tractor Supply: 6am to 9pm
• Ulta Beauty: 6am to 10pm
• Walgreens: Regular hours
• Walmart: 6am to 11pm
• World Market: 8am to 8pm

JCPenney Black Friday coupon giveaway

Zoom in: "Inflation is an important factor for our customers this year," JCPenney CEO Marc Rosen said in an interview with Axios. "And so what we're trying to do is really take inflation out of the holiday for them."

• Hundreds of sale prices are the same as last year or lower, Rosen said, and this Black Friday JCPenney is hosting multiple giveaways throughout the day not just when stores open at 5am.

What's next: To help customers fight inflation, Rosen said JCPenney will have a credit card offer in which shoppers who buy $250 or more in a single purchase get six months interest-free and six equal payments.

Of note: Competitor Kohl's is giving the first 200 Black Friday shoppers at each of its stores a game piece with various prizes.

More from Axios:

• Amazon's Black Friday NFL game could change holiday shopping
• IRS releases tax brackets, inflation adjustments for 2024
• More free COVID tests available to order from government