Dive Brief:

• Kohl’s, which recently reported a disappointing third quarter, has met Macy’s holiday season salvo and says it too will open Thanksgiving Day at 6 p.m., two hours earlier than last year.

• Amazon met their “Thanksgiving Day” and raised them to Nov. 1, when it says it will begin offering “Black Friday” deals.

• Meanwhile, many retailers, including Costco, Nordstrom, and GameStop, have made a point of saying they will stay closed on Thanksgiving. 

Dive Insight:

While there have been reports that this holiday shopping season will be healthier than it has been in a long time, there are also many reports that consumers are expecting deals and are being mindful of their spending. This mindset is likely leading to a rash of new enticing policies from retailers, from these early Black Friday deals to free shipping. 

We’ll see how these strategies end up working, but it seems already clear that we will soon have to just stop calling it Black “Friday.”