Thursday's Yuma Sun chock full of deals
While the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner is browning in the oven, there will be plenty to occupy you in Thursday morning's Yuma Sun.
The edition traditionally is the largest of the year, about three pounds of newsprint chock full of advertising sections inserted in the newspaper that day, according to publisher Joni Brooks.
The newspaper will have about 40 inserts.
They will be full of “Black Friday” specials and coupons in recognition of the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season and the busiest weekend of the year for retailers.
Until then, contents of those advertising inserts and the deals they offer to lure shoppers into stores after the leftovers have been put away Thanksgiving Day or early on a still-dark Friday are a closely guarded secret.
“There are some fabulous deals,” Brooks said.
It's a holiday tradition for people to pick up the paper, have dinner, then spread the inserts all over the table and plan their shopping strategy. “It's a shopping challenge — how to get to all the stores at the right times and get all the good deals.”
Subscribers of the Yuma Sun will have the behemoth delivered to their homes as usual Thursday morning. Others can purchase the Thanksgiving special edition at stores and in racks for $1.75.
Additional copies will be printed and placed in racks because of the high demand for the newspaper that day, said David Fornof, production director.
He noted that a lot of work goes into putting out the large newspaper, taking seven production days to assemble all the components. “It's a lot of work for one day's paper but it's a great day.”
As for his family, he said they look over the paper and plan who is going where on Black Friday. His personal preference is to baby-sit the grandchildren while the other adults hit the stores at 3 in the morning.
Holiday shopping is always a high-stakes competition for the retail dollar, and experts say this holiday season is more intense than ever. No wonder: Merchants rake in an estimated 25 to 40 percent of their annual sales in the last two months of the year.
Shoppers this year will drop an estimated $586.1 billion during the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation.
Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853. Find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YSJoyceLobeck or on Twitter at @YSJoyceLobeck.
