cyber monday

Courtney McGee column.

Holiday shoppers know about Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Now, museum stores want to snag a day of their own.

Thanksgiving Weekend is busy in Bel Air, elsewhere in Harford

Though more people are shopping online and retailers are encouraging it, crowds are still expected for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the start of what's expected to be a strong retail season .

Much like Small Business Saturday, we’d like to encourage folks to think a little more locally when making a donation to a charitable cause on Giving Tuesday.

While many of us crashed on sofas and chairs doing our best to sleep off tryptophan served up with turkey, others had another itch to scratch — the urge to shop.

Black Friday may be losing some of its luster to online buying and Thanksgiving day door-busters, but for shoppers like Dyane Munford, it’s as “exhilarating” as ever, a time to strategize, divide and conquer the best deals.

This first day after Thanksgiving is finally and officially the start of the Christmas season.

Even as some retailers pushed back against the recent trend of Thanksgiving hours and online shopping made it easier than ever to snag a deal from the comfort of the couch, the most dedicated deal-seekers still packed in their holiday dinner early to flock to the stores.

Ali von Paris, CEO and founder of Route One Apparel, has managed to build a considerable following making clothes and wearable

It's like a fraternity, Zachary Orr is trying to explain, and in the literal sense of the word, he is correct: The Ravens' undrafted linebackers are a brotherhood, sharing practice reps, small-school pedigrees and the life lessons that have so far kept them kin.

Finally, it's time for those who cling to the past and fight the ever bigger and earlier tide of commercialism for Christmas to let loose and enjoy the holiday in all of its retail glory.

Thousands in the Baltimore area will dedicate more than 50 hours per week this season at Amazon's Baltimore fulfillment center to make the holidays happen for customers around the globe. In the modern day, amid the many deals offered as often as every five minutes on Amazon.com, Amazon's associates are the closest things to Santa's helpers.

As has become tradition, a number of shoppers hit big-box stores on Thanksgiving evening, scoring deals for holiday gifts or for themselves.

If Black Friday or Cyber Monday don't sound appealing, perhaps Small Business Saturday will.

JG Sassy will offer the following discounts through Monday, Nov. 28: 30 percent off jeans; 30 percent off cashmere sweaters; 50 to 60 percent off Saint James,

Lavishly spending on not just our spouses but our kids and pets has become a Valentine's tradition in American. What does the holiday look like elsewhere in the world?

With Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday out of the way, the headlong rush to Christmas is under way.

Maryland charities were working to eclipse the estimated $9 million donated last year in dollars and volunteer hours on #GivingTuesday.

Sure, deals all around the world are at your fingertips on Cyber Monday. But that doesn't mean you should overlook what's right around the corner.

Local allegiance is quite natural when it comes to rooting for professional sporting franchises. We need to develop this same passion for our hometown businesses and support them with the same fervor as we have for the local sporting teams.

This Saturday, Harford County's small businesses want to offer shoppers something big-box stores and online retailers can't: an experience.

While we shop the big box stores and places like Amazon.com as much as anyone, we think the idea of tomorrow's Small Business Saturday could be the most important to observe.

Black Friday isn't what it once was. The day after Thanksgiving, once considered the champion of shopping days, is no longer the first day of holiday buying or always the biggest. And it's far from the only time to pounce on rock-bottom deals. Discounts now start earlier. The biggest chains open on Thanksgiving. Shoppers have learned they can count on last-minute price cuts. And online shopping has made the day less relevant.

Make charitable giving a higher priority than discount shopping this year

Today is Free Shipping Day, when hundreds of retailers offer the service for free with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve -- or sooner.

Why not give yourself the gift of quality, affordable health care?

After a lackluster Black Friday weekend — spending fell 11 percent from Thanksgiving through Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation — some big retailers were under more pressure to have a sales blowout.

As Black Friday has now morphed into a two-day event with the addition of shopping deals on Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday has in many cases similarly stretched into an extended affair.

In the lead up to the holidays, retailers from Amazon to Walmart are striving to keep consumers' attention longer and longer. For those with odd work hours or who choose not to sleep, retailers will be ready and waiting, especially during the crucial two-month period that can make up 40 percent of annual business.

Retail sales rose a "decent" 2.3 percent from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 in holiday-related categories such as apparel, electronics and jewelry, according to a Thursday report from MasterCard SpendingPulse. A late Thanksgiving, which reduced the number of shopping days, and a series of winter storms put retailers at a disadvantage, leading to modest growth. Many stores are trying to make up for lost time with post-holiday deals.

Lost in panic of shopping and wrapping

Furby is back on store shelves this holiday season, along with other toys that never left: Barbie, Legos and Elmo, to name a few. But, more than ever, tech-related playthings are elbowing their way onto the traditional toys' turf. iPads landed on the National Retail Federation's most popular toy list for the first time this year. Even the reintroduced Furby interacts with a mobile app.

The 'Bmore Gives More' campaign exceeded its $5 million one-day fundraising goal as part of the national #GivingTuesday movement, GiveCorps announced Wednesday.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake visited a local restaurant to publicize #GivingTuesday, a day designed to foster online and other charitable contributions after the holiday shopping of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Shopping holidays have their place, but the business textbook basics – quality product, effective promotion, prominent placement and reasonable price – will always carry the day when it comes to attracting and keeping customers, long after the hype has faded.

Cyber Monday may be losing its significance as the biggest online day of the season, thanks to this year's earlier and more diluted kickoff to holiday shopping, both in stores and online.

The campaign is part of Giving Tuesday, which organizers hope will gain the same calendar recognition as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Despite extra time to shop as more retailers opened for business on Thanksgiving Day, consumers spent less money this year during the first four days of the official start of the holiday shopping season, according to figures released Sunday by the National Retail Federation.

Experts predicted that 33 million Americans planned to go shopping on Thanksgiving Day, and Baltimore-area shoppers were no exception. Many Marylanders hit the stores in between Thanksgiving dinners and the nighttime Ravens-Steelers game.