SACRAMENTO BUSINESS JOURNAL - Sears to Open on Thanksgiving Day

For the first time in its history, Sears will open half day on Thanksgiving.  More than 900 full-line Sears stores will operate 7 a.m. to noon Thanksgiving Day, spokesman Tom Aiello said Monday.  That includes the department-store chain’s local stores.

Sears has stores at Arden Fair and Sunrise malls, at Florin Towne Centre and at Westfield Galleria at Roseville. The Roseville store has still not re-opened after the Oct. 21 arson fire that caused an estimated $55 million in damages to the mall.

Sears Holdings Corp. decided to open its Sears stores half day on Thanksgiving based primarily on customer feedback, Aiello said.  The company has had good results from the more than a decade it has opened its Kmart stores on Thanksgiving.

Also in response to customer feedback, Sears has expanded its holiday layaway period to 12 weeks from 8 weeks, allowing customers more time to pay for their merchandise.

In addition, this year Sears has doorbuster sales in the couple months prior to Christmas on Fridays and Saturdays, Aiello said.

Last year, the 30 percent to 60 percent discounts were offered only on Fridays.  Those doorbuster sales started two weeks ago.