Target Begins Year-End Sales

Target Corp.’s year-end discounts began Monday with price cuts for certain electronics, as it announced sale tactics that peak on Black Friday later this month.

The company said it would open its stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, the same time it did last year, for the traditional “doorbuster” deals that continue on Black Friday, for years considered the biggest shopping day of the year.

But Minneapolis-based Target is spreading out the deals with daily promotions that begin Nov. 22, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and continue until Dec. 4.

And to get on top of a series of Black Friday announcements scheduled by retailers Monday, it launched a one-day sale in stores and online Monday morning chiefly for electronics and some toys. For instance, it is offering 25 percent off all Beats wireless headphones and a buy-one-get-half-off deal on Melissa & Doug toys for young children.

In a conference call with reporters, Tina Tyler, chief stores officer for Target, said the moves are designed not to take attention away from Black Friday but to drive shoppers to its 1,800 stores and website more often during coming weeks.

“I don’t think we’d say we’re shifting away” from Black Friday, Tyler said. “We’re adding to. It’s about getting more trips from the guests. We’re really looking at how do we fill more needs of the guests versus trying to put them all into one spot.”

Even as it spreads out deals, the company came up with a promotion to entice shoppers to stores on Black Friday itself. A shopper that spends more than $75 on that day will get a coupon for 20 percent off an entire purchase made at Target between Dec. 4 and 13.