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4th Of July Retail Sales Like 'Black Friday' In July

KCBS_740 SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- If the sales are any indicator, it's like Christmas in July as retailers pushed to make the 4th of July weekend the next 'Black Friday.'

"It's become so desperate in the store wars in retail that no holiday is immune. Every possible holiday is an excuse for a blockbuster retail sale," Burt Flickinger, Managing Director of Strategic Resource Group told KCBS.

Dr. Jane Boyd-Thomas, Professor of Marketing at Winthrop University noticed the big sale emails on her phone as soon as she woke up.

"The first part of the morning I had 10. Then, later in the morning I had nine more," Boyd-Thomas told KCBS.

She says that in the traditionally slow summer shopping period, this is retailers' attempts to entice shoppers into spending more before the busy back-to-school season starts next month.

The sales have also expanded from items that people might consider summer-centric, and shoppers are seeing 4th of July deals on cars, mattresses, and appliances.

"Are the prices better than Black Friday? Probably not; but the term from a marketing perspective works, because that's kind of a code word that consumers understand. Black Friday – great sale," Boyd-Thomas said.

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