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Macy’s NYSE:M to open 48 hrs straight at Christmas

Macy’s announced this week that for the 1st time, it will keep all of its stores open for 48 straight hrs on the weekend before Christmas, in a attempt to reach out to die-hard shoppers, procrastinators and parents of young children during the last-minute frenzy of what is typically 1 of the busiest shopping weekends in the USA.

Given how retailers tend to follow each another’s leads, analysts said they would not be surprised to see others follow Macy’s lead.

Toys R Us has not yet announced its holiday hours for the days before Christmas, last year, it stayed open for 112 straigh hrs leading up to Christmas Eve.

Target will keep its stores open until 9 p Christmas Eve this year, a couple of hours later than last year, according to a company spokeswoman. The chain has already started holding extended hours since Black Friday, keeping stores open until 11 p or Midnight on most days.

Britt Beemer, Chairman of America’s Research Group, said Macy’s and other retailers know they need to drum up excitement to get shoppers through their doors.

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“Our research says we are seeing a little Christmas hibernation this year because so many consumers shopped Black Friday,” he said. “So many of them are not going back into stores until the weekend before Christmas.” Mr. Beemer expects to see retailers dangle some juicy specials to draw in shoppers during that weekend, too. “If you can turn it into a Black Friday event, you win,” he said.

He added that a blockbuster year for retail sales is not expected, so retailers are anxious.

While the National Retail Federation is forecasting a 4.1% increase in holiday retail spending this year, Mr. Beemer’s group has put out a more conservative prediction, at 1.8 to 2.8%.

The numbers coming out of Black Friday seemed strong. According to the National Retail Federation, a record 247-M shoppers visited stores and websites that weekend up from 226-M the year before. Spending over those 4 days totaled $59.1-B, +13% from Y 2011.

Despite the bump, a group of about 18 US chain stores saw a sales increase of only 1.7% in November as a whole, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Superstorm Sandy was one of the reasons given for the lower-than-expected retail performance.

Macy’s has kept select stores in certain markets open all night in the days before Christmas in the past.

Based on that success, Macy’s is keeping all of its stores nationwide open this year from 7 a. 21 December through 7 a 23 December The extended hours also coincide with its last scheduled !-day sale before Christmas.

“What we wanted to do is to make shopping as easy for our customers as possible,” said Macy’s spokeswoman Andrea Schwartz. “That means especially for those who are home all day with the children and need to get out at night or third shift workers, whatever your circumstance may be.” She said shoppers who have come out to shop late at night in previous years have been festive, sometimes wearing matching shirts or Santa hats.

There’s some precedent with stores such as Walmart NYSE:WMT and grocery stores that are open around the clock, he noted. But many of those stores have bare-bones staffs overnight, with just a handful of cashiers.

During this post-Black Friday shopping lull, another issue weighing on retailers is the warmer-than-normal weather. Many stores are well-stocked right now with sweaters, scarves, hats and boots.

A number of retailers are beginning to roll out sales and promotions on coats so they are not stuck with a lot of them at the end of the season, as the warmer weather is causing some retailers to get nervous. They do not want to be selling Winter wear in January and February.