Des Moines Area Malls Open Thanksgiving Night

DES MOINES, IA — The holiday shopping season used to officially kick off on Black Friday with many stores opening well before regular weekday hours. But in recent years several big box retailers have gotten a jump on the busy shopping weekend by creating Thanksgiving Day sales to draw shoppers on the holiday.

Consumer spending is expected to rise over last year and a survey by the National Retail Federation found that 69 percent of Americans, or 164 million people, will spend at least part of the holiday weekend from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday shopping.

The retail group said 54 percent of consumers say they will spend about the same as last year, while 24 percent report they are likely to spend more.

RetailMeNot, a consumer website that aggregates coupons and deals, found in a survey it conducted that the average American will spend more than $700 on holiday shopping.

That could be good news for the sites the draw in shoppers first. This year, all five Des Moines area shopping malls will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving. Individual store hours vary and while some will not be open at all on Thursday, others will open ahead of the mall. Younkers, for example, opens at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Here are the weekend shopping hours for Des Moines area malls:

Jordan Creek Town Center, 101 Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines — 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Merle Hay Mall, 3800 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines — 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Outlets of Des Moines, 801 Bass Pro Drive, Altoona — 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday (with swag bag giveaway to the first 250 adults in line at the Karl Chevrolet site, space 810), 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Southridge Mall, 1111 S.E. Army Post Road, Des Moines — 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Valley West Mall, 1551 Valley West Drive, West Des Moines — 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Stores open Thanksgiving Day

In addition to shopping malls, the following stores in the Des Moines metro also will be open Thanksgiving Day:

• Bass Pro Shops, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Best Buy, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
• Big Lots, 7 a.m. to midnight
• Dick's Sporting Goods, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• Dollar General, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• GameStop, opens at 4 p.m.
• JCPenney, 2 to 10 p.m.
• Kmart, 6 p.m.
• Kohl's, opens 5 p.m.
• Macy's, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• Michael's, 6 p.m. to midnight
• Old Navy, opens at 4 p.m.
• Radio Shack, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Sears, 6 p.m. to midnight
• Target, 6 p.m. to midnight
• Toys R Us, 5 to 11 p.m.
• Ulta, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• Walgreens, varies, some open 24 hours
• Walmart, deals begin at 6 p.m.
• Younkers, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The National Retail Federation said holiday retail sales in November and December is expected to increase between 3.6 percent and 4 percent this year, from $655.8 billion to as much as $682 billion. That figure excludes purchases of vehicles, gasoline and dining out.

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