SouthPark, Charlotte Premium Outlets to open 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving Day shopping creep has crept a little earlier in Charlotte, with SouthPark mall and Charlotte Premium Outlets becoming the latest shopping centers to announce they’ll open at 6 p.m.

Concord Mills and Carolina Place have said they plan to open at 6 p.m. as well, kicking off “Black Friday” sales about halfway through the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day football game. Northlake Mall will open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, the same as last year.

The 6 p.m. opening time is two hours earlier than SouthPark, Concord Mills and Carolina Place opened last year on Thanksgiving Day. This is the first year Charlotte Premium Outlets, a joint venture of Simon and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, has been open for business.

The earlier opening times are even more striking when compared with two years ago. In 2012, SouthPark, the region’s biggest mall, was closed on Thanksgiving Day and didn’t open until 6 a.m. on Black Friday. Concord Mills, also owned by Simon, didn’t open until midnight on Black Friday.

In a statement, a Simon representative said the “enhanced” hours at its shopping centers will help busy customers get their shopping done.

“We are offering extra holiday hours to meet our customers’ needs,” said Holly Roberson, director of marketing at Charlotte Premium Outlets.

But some experts said that stores, while they’re chasing sales, run the risk of alienating customers and creating backlash by pushing their openings earlier and earlier.

“Although opening on Thanksgiving Day may lead to incremental sales that day, retailers could risk upsetting their most loyal customers,” said customer analytics provider Fred Thompson, retail practice leader for LoyaltyOne, in a statement.

LoyaltyOne released a survey of 1,000 shoppers Tuesday. The company said it found 50 percent of those surveyed opposed stores opening on Thanksgiving Day, 33 percent supported the idea and 17 percent were undecided.

Malls are following the lead of other stores that have announced their earliest-ever Thanksgiving openings this year. Belk, Sears, Kohl’s and Macy’s will open at 6 p.m., while J.C. Penney and Best Buy said they would open an hour earlier, at 5 p.m. Struggling electronics retailer RadioShack will open its stores at 8 a.m. Thanksgiving Day for the first time.

A few companies, such as BJ’s Wholesale Club, have taken the opposite tack, appealing to consumer backlash by making a point to stay closed on Thanksgiving Day.

“Consistent with our company values, BJ’s Wholesale Club will, once again, remain closed on Thanksgiving Day,” chief executive Laura Sen said in a statement. The move would “give our team a well-deserved holiday.”

Just two years ago, Thanksgiving Day openings drew protests from workers and others who believe stores should be closed. A 2012 petition asking Target not to open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving drew 378,000 signatures. But such efforts appear to have faded as stores push their openings earlier each year in pursuit of customers.

This year, Target plans to open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

This story was originally published November 11, 2014 at 1:24 PM with the headline "SouthPark, Charlotte Premium Outlets to open 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving."