Stores hope deals, excitement draw shoppers for Black Friday

The Thanksgiving weekend, when stores go all-out to attract shoppers, can be an indication of how they’ll do through the season. (Pexels photo)

NEW YORK— Stores are hoping deals and excitement bring shoppers to stores and to their sites for Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

But Black Friday has morphed from a single day when people got up early to score doorbusters into a whole season of deals, so shoppers may feel less need to be out. Some love the excitement. Others may check their phones and go back to sleep. But the Thanksgiving weekend, when stores go all-out to attract shoppers, can be an indication of how they’ll do through the season.

With the jobless rate at a 17-year-low of and consumer confidence stronger, analysts project healthy sales increases for November and December. Analysts at Bain say Amazon is expected to take half of the season’s sales growth.