That could be a huge bargain considering that most TVs in the $500 range are just O.K. while high-end models cost upward of $2,000.
What should you keep in mind while scoping out a new set? Our best tips are right here.
The key points: Know the lighting in the room where you’ll put it, look for a couple important features, and don’t get duped.
Don’t want to bother with all that? There’s a list of top picks there, too. — BRIAN X. CHEN
Credit
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
People may spend less this year than last.
The millions of deal-seeking shoppers who jam malls and store aisles over the next few days will be doing so in what is by most measures the best economy in a decade. The unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, is at its lowest level since the Clinton administration.
But two questions loom over the holiday shopping season: How free will Americans be with their spending when wage growth remains anemic? And how much of that money will they spend in stores, given the continuing shift toward online shopping?
Over all, Americans appear confident in their economic prospects. The University of Michigan on Wednesday said consumer sentiment ticked down in November but remained close to its highest level since 2004. A separate survey conducted for The New York Times this month by the online polling firm SurveyMonkey likewise found that confidence was high and stable — neither survey has moved much in response to political turmoil in Washington or crises overseas.
“This isn’t something that’s bouncing around a lot,” said Jon Cohen, vice president of survey research for SurveyMonkey. “People aren’t rushing to save money they way they were during the downturn.”
But that confidence may not translate into booming holiday sales. Most Americans plan to spend the same on their holiday shopping as last year, or less, according to the survey; only 12 percent plan to spend more.
Still, two-thirds of Americans plan to shop over the long Thanksgiving weekend, according to SurveyMonkey, and nearly a quarter plan to do all or most of their holiday shopping in that period.
But the shift toward online retailers means that Black Friday is not the economic indicator that it once was. Retailers — both online and brick-and-mortar — are increasingly offering deals days or even weeks ahead of Thanksgiving, and consumers have learned that the best prices on some items come later in the holiday season.
“People have gotten so they game the system,” said Diane Swonk, independent economist in Chicago. “These are savvy consumers now. They’ve learned to play the game.” — BEN CASSELMAN
Yeah, O.K. So where are the deals?
We’ve got you covered here.
Your local Walmart is open now (it doesn’t matter where you are, this is pretty much a given). Kmart and two big outdoors emporiums, Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops, were open this morning before you got the turkey in the oven.
Other major retailers including Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s have opted to wait until the late afternoon.
One retailer that chose to stay closed on Thanksgiving? T-Mobile, which had opened last year. John Legere, the mobile carrier’s chief executive, said he wanted everyone to “give thanks with family, friends and loved ones.”
��So this year, we decided not to open any of our retail stores on Thanksgiving. We want you to enjoy the day! Don’t you worry about shopping until Friday AM!!
—
John Legere (@JohnLegere)
Nov. 22, 2017
Don’t worry. T-Mobile will be ready to help you “bright and early” on Black Friday. — TIFFANY HSU
Credit
Courtney Sacco/Corpus Christi Caller-Times, via Associated Press
If you’re looking for help it might be because retailers aren’t.
Most big retailers are scaling back their seasonal hiring this year, meaning you may need to wait a little longer for a register or help finding that must-have item.
Across the country, retailers are expected to hire between 500,000 and 550,000 seasonal workers this holiday season, down from the roughly 575,000 who were hired last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and private employer, for instance, has no plans for a hiring spree this holiday season. Instead, the company said it was giving “millions more” hours to its thousands of part-time employees.
Among large retailers, Target is making perhaps the biggest hiring splash. It plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers, up from 70,000 last year, as it makes a push to improve the shopping experience in its stores and grab market share from some of its struggling rivals. — MICHAEL CORKERY
Holding the line for bargains and bragging rights.
What on Earth possesses people to hit stores when they could be home sleeping off a turkey dinner? The psychology is complicated.
Richard Larson, a professor at M.I.T. who has spent years studying line behavior — he’s known as Dr. Queue in academic circles — said that the enthusiasm for Black Friday lines “makes sense, in some weird way.”
The once-a-year lines are “exhilarating,” he said. “They’re the kind you might tell your grandchildren about.”
The scarcity of bargains means shoppers can enjoy a sense of accomplishment after braving the lines.
“People’s willingness to wait is, in some sense, proportional to the perceived value of whatever they’re waiting to acquire,” Professor Larson said. “Even if they don’t know what the line is for, they reason that whatever’s at the end of it must be fantastically valuable.”
Is that enough to lure Professor Larson into this weekend’s lines? Nope. “It confuses me,” he said. — TIFFANY HSU
