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Black Friday draws large crowds despite lowest consumer sentiment in 3 years
[ad_2]Black Friday draws large crowds despite lowest consumer sentiment in 3 years – CBS News
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What’s open on Thanksgiving? Here’s what to know about store hours on Thursday and Black Friday.
As Americans prepare their Thanksgiving feasts, they may find themselves in need of a last-minute ingredient. But depending on their local grocery store’s holiday schedule, they might be out of luck for scoring that extra bag of cranberries or box of stuffing.
It’s best to plan ahead, given that some retail and grocery chains will be shuttered on Nov. 27, while others will have limited hours for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Stores will reopen on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which is the official kickoff for the holiday shopping season. Several retailers are planning to open early on Nov. 28, giving customers a chance to get a head start on their gift lists.
Here’s what’s open and closed on Thanksgiving.
Is Target open on Thanksgiving?
Target locations will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to a fact sheet published on Target’s website.
Is Costco open on Thanksgiving?
Costco will be closed on Thursday, as noted on its holiday calendar.
Which grocery stores are open on Thanksgiving?
Below is a list of grocery chains that will be open with limited hours on Thursday.
- Food Lion: All stores will close at 3 p.m., except its Virginia locations in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg, and Charlottesville, which will close at 4 p.m., a spokeswoman told CBS News. All pharmacies will be shut for the holiday.
- H-E-B: Open 6 a.m. to noon on Thanksgiving.
- Kroger: Its locations will close at 12 p.m. on the holiday.
- Stop and Shop: Stores in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey are open until 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving. However, locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be closed, as well as pharmacies across all locations.
- Wegmans: Most stores will close at 4 pm on Thanksgiving and reopen at 6 am on Friday, Nov. 28, a spokesperson told CBS News.
- Whole Foods: The majority of stores will be open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., although locations in Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island will be closed.
Which grocery chains are closed on Thanksgiving?
The following chains will be closed all day on Thursday:
Are other retailers open on Thanksgiving?
Some other chains, from pharmacies to home improvement centers, will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
For those that will remain open, it’s best to check schedules and hours ahead of time, as they can vary depending on location.
- CVS Pharmacy: CVS locations will be open on Thanksgiving, although some stores and pharmacies may have reduced hours, a spokesperson told CBS News.
- Dollar General: Stores in most states will be open during regular business hours on Thanksgiving.
- Home Depot: Closed on Thanksgiving.
- IKEA: Closed on Thanksgiving.
- Michaels: Closed on Thanksgiving.
- Petco: Closed on Thanksgiving.
- TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra and Homesense: All closed on Thanksgiving.
- Walgreens: Most stores will be closed, although 24-hour locations will remain open for essential pharmacy services.
Which fast-food and restaurant chains can I eat at on Thanksgiving?
As with other retailers, customers should check local hours as they may vary.
- Burger King: Open on Thanksgiving.
- Chick-fil-A: Closed on Thanksgiving.
- Dunkin’: Many stores will operate during regular hours on Thanksgiving. Customers can check local store listings or the Dunkin’ app for more info.
- KFC: Hours across the U.S. will vary based on location, a spokesperson said.
- Starbucks: Some stores may adjust their hours. Use the company’s store locator or app to determine if a shop near you is open.
- Subway: Most Subway restaurants are closed on Thanksgiving Day, although some locations may operate with reduced hours, a spokesperson told CBS News.
Is the stock market open on Thanksgiving?
The stock market will be closed on Thanksgiving. It will also close early, at 1 p.m. EDT, on Friday, Nov. 28, according to the Nasdaq website.
Are USPS, UPS and FedEx open on Thanksgiving?
Post office locations will be closed on Thursday to observe Thanksgiving, and only Priority Mail Express will be delivered that day. Regular mail delivery and retail services will resume on Friday, Nov. 28.
UPS will be closed on the Thanksgiving holiday, with pickup and delivery services resuming on Friday.
All FedEx services will be closed except for FedEx Custom Critical, an expedited service for specialized, valuable and hazardous shipments, according to FedEx’s website.
Do stores have special Black Friday hours?
Some stores are opening their doors early on Friday to accommodate the rush of shoppers looking for discounts. See below for a sampling of retailers’ Black Friday hours.
- Best Buy: Opens at 6 a.m. local time.
- JC Penney: Opens at 5 a.m. local time.
- Kohl’s: Opens at 5 a.m. local time.
- Nordstrom: Opens at 7 a.m. local time.
- Macy’s: Opens at 6 a.m. local time.
- Michaels: Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Target: Opens at 6 a.m. local time. Stores will close at their regular time. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 23, Target stores will be open from 7 a.m. until midnight local time.
- TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra, and Homesense: All will open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m.
- Walmart: Opens at 6 a.m. local time.
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A Upper East Side cannabis dispensary is raffling off a Birkin bag — here’s how you can enter the giveaway | amNewYork
Sweetlife on the Upper East Side is raffling off a genuine Birkin bag.
Photo courtesy of Sweetlife
An Upper East Side cannabis dispensary is raffling off a piece of high fashion this holiday season.
Sweetlife, located at 1st Avenue and East 87th Street, is teaming up with the brand EUREKA to give their customers a chance to win a Hermès Birkin bag.
From now through Christmas Eve, customers who sign up on www.sweetlife.nyc/signup will be entered into the drawing. Customers can also earn additional entries for every $100 spent on EUREKA products at Sweetlife.
The winner will be chosen in a live drawing on Christmas Eve.
“Sweetlife and EUREKA wanted to celebrate cannabis the same way New York celebrates fashion: with real, iconic luxury. Many cannabis brands want to be considered “high-end,” but Sweetlife believes that true luxury is about values, like craftsmanship, creativity, and culture, not just price tags,” said Billy Qirollari, manager of Sweetlife. “By putting a genuine Hermès Birkin bag into the cannabis conversation, Sweetlife aims to meet our fashion-forward, Upper East Side customers where they are and highlight the diverse audiences who enjoy cannabis. The goal is to redefine luxury in the cannabis space and show that cannabis has a natural place in New York’s design-driven culture.”
Qirollari says that EUREKA was the perfect collaborator for this giveaway because the brand aligns with Sweetlife’s outlook on how high fashion can come together with the cannabis industry.
“Sweetlife and EUREKA believe fashion and cannabis naturally intersect through quality, cultural identity, craftsmanship, and personal expression. Sweetlife’s Upper East Side retail experience is built like a boutique, with design-forward aesthetics and curated products . EUREKA’s focus on purity, quality, and integrity also reflects a fashion-like attention to detail,” said Qirollari. “Together, our brands want to show that cannabis isn’t just a product. Cannabis is part of a lifestyle that expresses individuality, culture, and New York sophistication. In the same way Hermès represents timeless craftsmanship, cannabis brands like Sweetlife and EUREKA are redefining a new era of ‘high fashion’ meets ‘high living.’”
“EUREKA has always been about quality and craftsmanship. These are values that are also shared by Sweetlife and Hermès. Together, we’re redefining what luxury means in cannabis,” said Mike Callari, director of sales for EUREKA. “EUREKA was founded by New Yorkers, so we are uniquely aware of the intimate connection to fashion that New Yorkers have and are proud to now help deepen the connection between fashion and cannabis.”
To celebrate the campaign, Sweetlife will debut limited-edition Sweetlife Birkin Boxes. The sleek, collectible gift sets are packed with curated goodies and a complimentary raffle ticket. Available to the first 100 customers on Black Friday, these boxes exemplify the intersection of fashion, culture, and cannabis.
To celebrate the campaign, Sweetlife will debut limited-edition Sweetlife Birken Boxes, which will contain select merchandise from Sweetlife and Eureka as well as an additional ticket for the raffle. The boxes will be available for the first 100 customers who shop at Sweetlife on Black Friday.
Sweetlife is located at 1662 1st Ave. For more information, visit www.sweetlife.nyc.
The Birkin Gift Bag, available for shoppers at Sweetlife on Black Friday. Emily Davenport
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No-Fire Season Is Real—Here’s Why Smart Companies Observe It
It’s officially no-fire season — that is, unless someone commits an egregious act— you don’t terminate employees from the week before Thanksgiving until January.
That’s the rule from employment attorney Todd Stanton, and it’s a good one. (In the interest of full disclosure, I wrote the forward to Stanton’s book, The 95% Rule: A Field Guide to Not Losing Your Mind or Making Your Lawyer Rich.)
What’s the reason behind this rule? You may think that it’s just to be nice —nobody wants to lose their job around the holidays. And this is true. It is nice not to terminate people around the holidays. But it’s also arm of protection for your company.
Stanton wrote on LinkedIn:
As we learn in The 95% Rule and Employment Law Axiom No. 22, “Surprised people get angry. Angry people sue.” So at Stanton Law, LLC, we treat the week before Thanksgiving through the end of December as No Fire Season. Absent critical safety violations or severe rule infractions, employers considering terminations in this six-week spot should really ask themselves if timing is right to show someone the door. If you’ve put up with poor performance for as long as you have, gritting your teeth for another few weeks to let people get through the holidays may help you avoid getting coal (or a demand letter) in your stocking.
The cost of a lawsuit
Most lawsuit threats go nowhere, but any time a lawyer accepts a case from your terminated employee (no matter how ridiculous), it will cost you to respond. You hear a lot about companies settling without admitting guilt. They do this because, even when innocent, it’s often far cheaper to settle. Attorney Matthew Joseph Novian writes:
“On average, it costs employers around $75,000 to work with an employment lawyer to settle a claim before it reaches trial. However, if the case progresses to court, the expenses can skyrocket, with pre-trial defense costs easily exceeding $125,000.”
Note, these costs don’t include the amount you have to pay out to the employee. And you’ll still be out the money if you go to court and win. You can see why companies will settle a claim for $50,000 rather than go to court.
So, of course, you want to avoid lawsuits — even ones you’ll win.
Why people sue
Not everyone who is wronged will sue. In fact, the EEOC estimates that up to 90 percent of people whose rights have been violated at work will not sue. Most people will let it go and move on.
So what makes the difference between someone who lets it go and someone who hires an attorney? Well, as Stanton said, they are angry.
In medical malpractice cases, the power of the apology has been so profound that several states have “apology laws.” This prevents patients from using a physician’s apology for a mistake in a lawsuit. It encourages doctors to apologize, and it doesn’t increase lawsuits. It’s a win-win. People often just want to know.
Likewise, people don’t want to be embarrassed. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, people are often with friends and family, and questions about jobs will naturally come up. Having your mother-in-law ask how work is going at the job that just fired you forces you to either confess over the turkey that you got fired or lie. Neither is good.
And not to mention the financial pressure. It’s not that things are magically affordable come January; it’s that people tend to have extra year-end expenses. And having to tell kids that Santa isn’t coming because Daddy lost his job just adds to the anger.
Often, companies slow down hiring in the fourth quarter as well, so it’s even more difficult to find a job.
The more frustrated and angry a terminated employee is, the more likely they are to pick up a phone and call an attorney. Your i’s may be dotted and your t’s crossed, but if they can make a convincing case to the lawyer, you’ll still be on the hook for a few thousand for your attorney to pull together the information and speak with the plaintiff’s attorney.
What about people who really need to go?
Of course, Stanton’s rule doesn’t mean you never fire during this time. If someone is embezzling, sending naughty pictures on the company email, or punches a customer, you will terminate them, even if it’s Christmas Eve.
But for your standard employee who is struggling with a performance improvement plan, you can continue to work with them. If your financial straits mean you have no option but to let them go between now and January, Stanton adds:
“If you are going to hand out pink slips with holiday cards, make sure to keep the process as considerate and generous as you can. You’re not rewarding the person you’re letting go, you’re protecting the folks you’re keeping.”
You want to treat everyone with dignity. The employees who stay behind will see how you’ve treated their colleagues who lost their jobs. Remember that.
Also, if you let people go for any reason other than gross misconduct and then show up to the company holiday party in your new six-figure sports car, your remaining employees will relay that information to the person you just laid off for “unavoidable cost reasons.” And their lawyer sees you as a deep-pocketed target.
Not terminating during the holiday season is the nice thing to do, but even if you’re not a nice person, it’s the financially prudent thing to do. Follow Stanton’s advice and put a moratorium on almost all terminations.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.
Suzanne Lucas
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Gap Inc. CEO on strategies to reinvigorate brands and bump sales amid economic concerns
Consumers are expected to spend more than $1 trillion this year on holiday shopping, according to the National Retail Federation. In an exclusive interview, Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson talks about how he’s preparing for the road ahead as shoppers remain anxious about the economy.
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Bloomington glowing tree display making a return this holiday season after 10 years
A light display once visible to planes landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and passing cars on Highway 77 is returning.
A grand oak tree on Meadowview Road in Bloomington will once again be dressed with string lights, shining through the holiday season. The last time a passerby could take in the glow was over 10 years ago, when Bob and Julie Little owned the home.
WCCO spoke with Bob Little the year he put his home and the beloved tree up for sale. He always hoped the new owners would take up the tradition.
“Now that we’ve had the house for about 10 years, we decided why not try to light it again,” Marlena Hemenway said.
The Hemenways own the house and now run Geneva Suites, an assisted living facility there. Caregivers support six residents.
“I was just showing [the residents] the pictures today and they’re like, ‘Wow, it’s going to be a Christmas miracle.’” said Hemenway.
She looks forward to bringing some seasonal joy to them and the greater community. But Hemenway says the price of this holiday hobby is steep.
“At least 40,000 [lights] and that’s where the big-ticket items start coming in,” she said.
They’re asking the community to donate and help shoulder the thousands of dollars it will take for the tree to make a full return.
Some have already stepped up. Hemenway called it a blessing when two outdoor lighting companies, FCR Lighting and Cleaning and Boulder Bridge Outdoor Services, offered to help with the labor.
Hemenway says they hope to light the tree in early December and keep the lights on through January.
“People mention that it just brings them so much hope and so much joy and that’s really what we’re hoping to continue to inspire,” she said.
Ashley Grams
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Don’t Skimp on Your Holiday Office Party. Employees Want Them More Than Ever
Pandemic-era social distancing requirements, ongoing remote working arrangements, and considerable employee lifestyle changes over the past five years have not been kind to traditional workplace celebrations. Consequently, many companies considerably scaled back, or entirely dropped the once inevitable office holiday party. Now, it may be staging a comeback. Surveys suggest 2025 may mark the return of year-end workplace fetes as an entrenched and beloved seasonal custom, as large majorities of both employers and workers are already planning for the festivities
While after-work drinks, meals, and even offsite events remain important team-building activities, the office holiday party has struggled to regain former status as a red-letter date on the workplace calendar. But according to the self-described “food tech platform” ezCater, year-end company knees-ups are making a major comeback in 2025. Its survey of over 1,600 employees and business executives found 82 percent of workers said they plan on attending their business’s seasonal bash this year, well up from 70 percent in 2024.
Business owners are also shaking off any pandemic era Scrooge-esque attitudes toward holiday office festivities. Fully 92 percent of responding employers said they plan to commit significant funds to those celebrations, with 51 percent saying they’ll spend more on them in 2025 than last year. The survey also found the average business budgets for office holiday party food and drinks will increase by 31 percent over 2024, rising to nearly $60 per participant.
Why go to that expense and bother to organize year-end office merry-making that often elicited groans from pre-pandemic era holdouts, and was virtually eliminated from workplaces as Covid spread?
On the practical side, both employers and staff benefit from the increased bonding that 83 percent of survey respondents said holiday office events encourage. Another 80 percent of participants said they believed year-end gatherings are even more effective in bringing coworkers and managers closer than before the pandemic — especially amid enduring remote and hybrid work arrangements.
Indeed, nearly a third of all respondents working under hybrid rules conditions said they had wound up feeling they’d missed out on something good after deciding not to attend year-end workplace fetes in recent years. They may have had good reason for thinking so. Fully 55 percent of survey participants said they were looking forward to this year’s office party for the non-business, informal socializing and friendship-forging opportunities those present. In that way, personal enjoyment supports professional wellbeing and unity — and vice versa.
“The workplace holiday party is critical for strengthening team connection and morale, especially for hybrid and remote teams,” said ezCater’s vice president of people Robert Kaskel in comments announcing the results. “In an increasingly disconnected world, companies should maximize these festive opportunities, because ultimately, stronger connections result in higher job satisfaction, productivity, and retention.”
But not all people feel quite as enthusiastic for their impending annual office gatherings.
Nearly half, or 45 percent of survey respondents admitted to getting stressed about attending the functions, with younger workers the most likely to feel that anxiety. Still, who among us hasn’t at some point also dreaded facing what 60 percent of Gen Zers cited as their most feared office party scenario — finding themselves standing alone with nobody to talk to?
Other year-end work party situations that worried survey respondents included being stuck in unwanted conversations, saying something to a manager they’d regret, and navigating hot or divisive topics during exchanges with colleagues.
To ensure maximum employee pleasure — and attendance — employers may want to tailor their holiday workplace party to participants’ stated preferences. Those included planning the gatherings on Fridays, in December rather than November, and scheduling them in the afternoon instead of evenings.
Respondents also favored holding the festivities in events spaces rather than workplaces, using buffet-style food layouts, and allowing workers to bring a guest of their own choosing.
Perhaps understanding that last desire, 77 percent of business executives who answered the survey said they’re making that “plus-one” allowance for 2025 holiday parties — up from 16 percent last year. Clearly, even bosses don’t like seeing people standing alone with nobody to talk to.
The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.
Bruce Crumley
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If Your Employees Are Taking On Second Jobs, Here’s How to Handle It
Taking a second job is nothing particularly new, but having to take on extra duties when you’re already working a full time role is no easy task. Yet that’s exactly what three in 10 of the full-time workers surveyed by Seattle-based Resume Templates said they planned to do this year to help cover the extra expenses that the holiday season brings (perhaps worsened this year by tariffs and inflation). And over a third of workers already working full-time said that they’re already working other gigs to earn extra income.
In essence, this means a majority of the 1,000 full-time workers in the survey were concerned enough about living costs at the end of 2025 that they’re taking on extra work.
Of these people, about half are raising more money by taking on extra hours at their existing employer. Other workers have taken on work at delivery services, joined ride-share companies, taken up seasonal jobs in stores, or were freelancing HRDive notes. Others took traditional “pocket money” roles like pet sitting and babysitting, while others tried earning income from social media.
The report notes that more people say it’s going to be harder to afford holiday expenses this year than last year, with some 61 percent feeling this way, and about a third of people are planning to spend less on gifts, holiday decorations and travel this year than in 2024. About three in 10 people say that the loss of government benefits like SNAP or assistance with insurance are partly to blame for their financial issues.
So far you may be thinking that this data merely supports evidence that the economy and the job market are in trouble, but that there’s not much relevance for your company. But there’s one piece of data in the report that will give you concern: over a third of people taking on more work, 39 percent in fact, say that this necessity already has or probably will damage their productivity on their existing full time role. While this makes sense (everybody only has so much energy and time to give, and a full time job is already demanding) this has immediate knock-on effects for their employers who could see a trickle-down impact on the company productivity and profitability.
In the report Julia Toothacre, chief career strategist at Resume Templates, writes that workers who take on extra duties “need to stay mindful of their energy and mental health” because “overworking can quickly lead to burnout, fatigue, and declining performance in both their main job and side work.” Toothacre also suggests that workers may need to scale back productivity to “a sustainable level,” and that “doing ‘enough’ to meet expectations, rather than constantly overperforming, might be the healthiest choice.” This advice, while sensible from an overworked, underpaid frontline employee point of view is clearly not going to please employers who may be relying on their workers being fired up and ready to tackle, say, a busy retail season.
Earlier this year a report said that a growing share of the workforce was “secretly” working second jobs, with perhaps up to 5 percent of the tech workforce pulling off this feat. The new report, meanwhile, backs up a study from June this year that said a similar shockingly high percentage of workers were going to seek additional duties to make ends meet — with economic woes tied to uncertainty, uncommunicative employers, and unhappiness in the workplace playing a role.
What can you do about this in your company?
It depends on your official stance on second jobs: banning workers from taking on extra work means that if they find themselves forced into an economic corner because the income they earn from you isn’t enough, they may simply quit for better paying roles elsewhere. If you tolerate workers taking on second roles, then a savvy leader may boost opportunities like flexible working schedules: the data suggests that workers are going to be taking on second jobs anyway, so if you’re their primary employer doing the most you can to ensure they’re not burned out seems smart, since it may protect their productivity.
Kit Eaton
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Why are people decorating for the holidays so early?
If it seems like Christmas trees are popping up earlier and earlier, that’s because they are.
According to the Minnesota Christmas Tree Association, 50% of their farms open before Thanksgiving, which used to be unheard of.
At one Stillwater shop, the holiday cheer isn’t up for discussion.
“It’s Christmas all year round here,” said Jill Heymer, who helps run Käthe Wohlfahrt of America, a German company whose handmade goods are on sale all year.
She says the early trend is good for business.
“It’s been, it’s been good for business, and surprisingly, largely, scales are trending up just a little bit year over year,” she said.
According to a survey by YouGov, 30% of people asked are in full Christmas mode before Dec. 1 and around 60% of adults asked say people start celebrating earlier than when they were kids.
Amy Morin is a therapist who researched the trend.
“There is research too that decorating can help us. And so when you start to see your neighbors decorating, people talking about the holidays, it kind of makes us feel like we’re all in something together,” Morin said.
And that’s why she says this trend got a big boost 5 years ago.
“So during the pandemic, having been isolated on our team, but it felt really good to suddenly be like but we’re in this together. That’s the sort of thing we want to do is banding together with our communities overall shows it reduces that feeling of collective dread, of collective anxiety that you haven’t during tough times,” she said.
Morin says that decorating early can help you become more social.
“Which brings us back to this idea that the more social you are, the happy you are. So there’s no reason that you shouldn’t decorate,” she said.
Morin added that the ambient lights can also help with seasonal affective disorder, and lift spirits during the increasingly dark days.
Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield
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The 22 best gift ideas for the remote worker in your life
A good to-do list app can bring order to those who struggle to keep track of everything on their schedule. There are tons of options in this space, but my personal favorite is TickTick Premium, which works across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux and the web. It offers a powerful set of tools for organizing thoughts and structuring events. You can group tasks with specific tags, distinguish them by priority level, set reminders for recurring events and see all of your upcoming to-dos in a calendar or “today” view.
Visually, the app is clean, easy to parse and consistent across devices, so you can set a task on the web and update it on an iPad without feeling lost. While it isn’t explicitly designed for note-taking you can jot down thoughts and create structured lists within each to-do. Search works well, and you can create a task with natural language, so writing, “finish gift guide by next Wednesday at 4pm” will automatically set the correct due date. (This isn’t bulletproof, but it generally goes right.) Apps like this aren’t a cure-all for those who can’t stay on top of their lives, but if your loved one often seems frazzled at work, TickTick may help them see a little bit clearer. — J.D.
Engadget
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Seasonal retail jobs are set to drop to lowest level in 15 years
Retailers are betting they can handle the holiday shopping rush with fewer additional workers.
From Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, retail stores are expected to hire between 265,000 and 365,000 seasonal workers, down from the 442,000 seasonal hires companies brought on last year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), a trade organization.
That would mark the lowest level of seasonal retail hiring in 15 years, according to the NRF.
At the same time, the organization expects holiday sales to hit a record, surpassing $1 trillion for the first time as spending rises between 3.7% to 4.2%.
The decline in expected seasonal hiring comes as the broader labor market is showing signs of strain, with some businesses across the nation holding off on adding new workers. At the same time, layoffs are accelerating, with job cuts this year through October rising to their highest levels since 2020.
The group’s hiring expectations “reflect the softening and slowing labor market,” NRF chief economist Mark Mathews said in a Thursday press briefing.
“But nevertheless, we are confident that retailers will be prepared to meet consumers with the prices, with the goods, and the convenient savings and value they’re looking for this holiday season,” he added.
Despite diminished consumer sentiment, holiday spending is projected to hold up as shoppers continue to prioritize the season’s celebrations over other purchases, he said.
“People save for it, they plan for it, they prioritize it and we think that’s going to happen again this year,” Mathews noted.
To be sure, consumers are expressing concern about rising prices, with inflation ticking higher in recent months due partly to wide-ranging tariffs on imported goods. Retailers are handing some of those tariff costs to shoppers, with a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis finding that companies passed about one-third of the new import duties onto consumers from May through July.
“All signals are consumers continue to be concerned about inflation and rising prices,” NRF senior economist Jack Kleinhenz said during the press briefing. “Despite these concerns, I believe consumers are still willing to spend, even though their sentiment is at very low levels.”
While retailers are planning fewer seasonal hires this year, some have added additional staff in the past few years, which could help compensate, NRF economists added.
“You might see less hiring, but we are seeing less firing in the retail industry,” Matthews said. “Those two are running neck and neck.”
For example, Target said it’s asking current retail employees if they want to pick up additional shifts during the holidays before adding new seasonal hires.
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Shopping strategies to help you save this holiday season
In a survey, nearly two-thirds of consumers said food and grocery costs will affect their holiday shopping this year. CBS News MoneyWatch correspondent Kelly O’Grady gives shopping strategies to help consumers save.
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Americans plan to spend big this holiday season even as they fret about the economy, study finds
Americans are expected to open their wallets this holiday season, increasing their gift budgets even as a slowing job market and stubborn inflation weigh on consumer confidence, according to a new analysis from Visa Business and Economic Insights.
U.S. consumers are forecast to spend an average of $736 each on holiday gifts, a 10% increase from the $669 reported last year, Visa said in its 2025 holiday spending outlook.
Inflation partly explains this year’s projected sales growth, with the Consumer Price Index showing that prices rose 3% on an annual basis in September. But Americans are also planning on upping their gifting, especially older consumers, with baby boomers forecasted to boost their holiday spending by 21%, the study found.
The robust spending outlook highlights consumers’ resilience, even as confidence surveys paint a more cautious picture.
“We are clearly seeing consumers spend in a far better, more robust way than what we’re seeing in the consumer sentiment and confidence data,” Michael Brown, a principal U.S. economist at Visa, told CBS News.
Visa tapped retail sales data from the U.S. Department of Commerce — excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants — for its holiday spending projections.
In the years leading up to the pandemic, changes in consumer spending corresponded more closely with consumer sentiment, Visa’s analysis shows. But that link has weakened in recent years. In April, for example, when consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since the pandemic, real consumer spending increased 3.1% on an annual basis, the Visa report points out.
Consumers continue to express dour views about the economy, with sentiment falling for a third consecutive month in October due to worries about a weaker job market and rising inflation, according to the latest University of Michigan sentiment index. Another measure from the Conference Board, a nonprofit group, also shows confidence in the economy edged down slightly this month.
What explains the disconnect? Steady wage gains have kept spending aloft, with many Americans continuing to shop despite higher prices because their take-home pay remains solid, Brown said.
Other holiday outlook forecasts from groups like Abode for Business and polling firm Gallup point to the same conclusion as Visa’s: Americans are planning to dish out billions on holiday gifts, travel and food despite their gloomy views on the economy.
Still, some are exercising caution in their purchasing, Brown said, noting that low- and middle-income households will face the biggest tradeoffs this holiday season. Higher costs for essentials such as groceries are leaving them with less room for discretionary spending, he added.
“There is absolutely an undercurrent of trying to make the dollar stretch, given some of those necessities are costing a bit more this season,” Brown said.
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A New Forecast Sees Less Seasonal Holiday Hiring This Year. Here’s Why
There may be a lot less ho-ho-hoing in 2025’s holiday season hi-hi-hiring. Early evidence suggests that businesses may be planning to fill fewer jobs than usual during the last three months of the year, even as the number of people looking for those positions surges.
The looming holiday season employment slowdown comes as national job creation has essentially flatlined since spring. The last official data before the government shutdown indicated monthly hiring rates dipped to an average of 26,750 new positions from May through August, largely because companies concerned about the economy’s health limited recruitment to replacing departing employees. Now that caution appears to have also been adopted by retailers and other businesses that typically add extra staff during the last months of the year to handle the expected boost in consumer buying.
A report by executive outplacement company Challenger, Gray, and Christmas released in September forecasted retailers to only add 500,000 seasonal positions this year. It noted that volume would represent the lowest rate of year-end hiring since 2009. The company said those cautious staffing plans reflect the same concerns as other business owners who aren’t doing much hiring. Those worries include the impact of import tariffs, relatively high and enduring inflation rates, and potentially reduced spending by consumers whose budgets are being pinched by higher prices.
A report by job posting platform Indeed painted a less Grinchy holiday season employment picture, but it still wasn’t terribly merry.
An analysis by its Hiring Lab research unit found year-end employment opportunities on September 30 were just 2.7 percent higher than on the same date last year. But at the same time, the number of people seeking those positions were 27 percent greater than in September 2024, and 50 percent higher than during the same month in 2023.
“The level of searches related to seasonal work is far above levels seen immediately before and after the pandemic,” wrote Indeed economist Cory Stahle in a recent Hiring Lab blog post. “But while searches have soared, the number of seasonal jobs available has not… This holiday hiring season will likely be highly competitive for job seekers, with fewer positions available and increased worker interest.”
Of course, things may change over the next few weeks if retailers and other companies that rely on big year-end business ramp up their hiring plans as the holidays near. But another detail Hiring Lab discovered suggests those belated recruitment hopes may be a long shot. Its analysis found only 2.1 percent of seasonal job postings so far have stressed an urgent need for help, far lower than the 10 percent level in September 2021.
By contrast, people looking for that work are really in need of seasonal jobs. The higher numbers of people searching for those opportunities indicate many employment seekers have learned the lessons from several months of a sluggish national employment market — and have started looking for year-end opportunities early. If so, that could be be worsening the supply and demand mismatch.
“It’s possible that some of this shift in timing represents job seekers adjusting to a cooling labor market, longer hiring times, and less employer urgency,” Stahl wrote. “Beyond urgency, workers may also feel the need to get their foot in the door earlier because they are competing for a shrinking pool of holiday jobs… The result is a more competitive seasonal job market with fewer opportunities for a growing supply of workers.”
Not all retailers are holding back as 2025 nears its end. Spirit Halloween said it’s recruiting as many people as it did last year, and Amazon is hiring 250,000 seasonal workers. Other big chains have said they’re adding unspecified numbers of employees to their staffs, while others declined to reveal their holiday season hiring plans.
The upshot, Indeed’s Hiring Lab said, is that so far this year, businesses with doubts about the economy are showing similar reluctance to significantly expand headcounts in the holiday run-up as they did this summer. While that’s bad news for seasonal job seekers, it should make recruitment easier for employers who are adding year-end staff.
“Seasonal work is still out there, but it’s not as easy to come by as it was a few years ago,” Stahl wrote. “All told, this year’s holiday season looks to be a tougher one for job seekers and a little easier for employers.”
Bruce Crumley
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3 Foolproof Ways to Boost Productivity During the Holiday Season
The holiday season brings a unique set of challenges for entrepreneurs and small-business owners alike. In my work as a productivity coach, I regularly see people rushing to accomplish as much as they possibly can during the holiday season.
In fact, you may feel as if you must complete a year’s worth of work over the course of the final weeks of the year. However, this isn’t about working frantically until the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s. Rather, it’s about working strategically for the rest of the month. If you want to boost your productivity this holiday season the smart way, then use the power of prioritization. Try any one of these methods to boost your productivity levels during the holiday season.
Focus on urgent year-end deadlines.
You’re eager to finish all those open tasks, projects, and assignments. However, there’s a difference between wrapping up loose ends and trying to force every single open project to completion over the next few weeks.
Now is the time to practice strict discernment in work prioritization. Take a moment to review open client rosters, project cases, and administrative files. What absolutely must be finished by the end of the year? Which forms, applications, declarations, files, and updates must be completed before December 31st?
Once you’ve made a distinction between what must be completed right now and what can wait until later, it’s time to plan. Create a brief checklist of the priority items that you must complete, and use this as a guide through the remainder of the year. For everything else, make a similar list and schedule items into your calendar or project management program. Just like that, you’ve created a draft work plan ready for January and the following quarter.
Create a holiday schedule.
It’s not unusual to find overbooked holiday calendars. However, if you want to successfully navigate these scheduling challenges, you must have a plan in place. One thing you can do is create a plan for yourself for potential double-bookings.
For instance, if you come across a double-booked entry in your calendar, you can plan to accept one entry and immediately reschedule the other for a date in the near future.
Another thing you can do is negotiate different aspects of a meeting to free up time in your schedule. This will need to be done on a case-by-case basis, so feel free to use your best judgement here.
Consider scheduling meetings via phone or video call or shortening the duration of a gathering. You might also reschedule non-urgent meetings to early in the new year.
Allocate time for review and reflection.
Holidays are meant to be spent in the company of others. However, having time for professional thought and reflection can benefit you and your business. Setting aside time for yourself affords you the space to review, evaluate, and process everything happening in the present moment. Even brief periods of time can be helpful during this busy season.
Here’s what to do: Open your calendar and locate available time slots over the next few weeks. Now, book a few of these time slots to use at your discretion. You could book a few hours in the morning, block out an entire afternoon, or pepper in several hours’ worth of time during the week. Choose what works best for you and your schedule.
You may use this time to prepare for the holiday party, wind down projects, review important items, and reflect upon the past year. You can also use this time to wrap up any pressing items before going away on vacation or leave.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Rashelle Isip
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The 2025 holiday season could break travel records again. Here’s when to book your plans.
The holidays are quickly approaching, which means there is potential for record-breaking travel yet again.
NerdWallet’s annual holiday travel report expects Americans to spend $311 billion on flights and hotels this year, totaling $2,586 a person, which is up nearly $260 from last year.
“The longer you wait to book holiday travel, the more expensive it is going to get,” said Sally French, who tracks travel for NerdWallet.
“This is really the week that you want to be booking your Thanksgiving travel and we are not far out from the week that you wanna make sure you’ve got your Christmas locked in,” she said.
French advises having Christmas travel booked the first week of November. NerdWallet says at least 51 days out is the best timing for Christmas bookings – which is Nov. 4.
Meanwhile, for those driving to their Thanksgiving destination, they can expect to see lower gas prices as gas prices nationally are falling and approaching $3 per gallon. Parts of Oklahoma and Ohio could even see prices dip below $2 per gallon.
Potential record travel
Thanksgiving in 2024 was the busiest Thanksgiving ever at airports across the country, but those records could be shattered this year.
Booking data from Cirium comparing 2024 to 2025 shows holiday trips booked between June 30 and Oct. 8 are up 2.2% for Thanksgiving and up nearly 1% for the week of Christmas.
“I think the entire fourth quarter, the fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, they’re all likely to set records with strong demand,” United CEO Scott Kirby said.
This Thanksgiving, airlines are adding about 250,000 more seats in an effort to keep up with the growing demand.
“As long as the economy keeps growing, I think that pace can continue,” Kirby said.