Looks like Santa and his elves will have to drink a lot of coffee this year to keep up with some of their corporate competitors.
For the second straight year, Toys 'R Us, as well as many Macy's locations, will be staying open 24 hours a day leading up to Christmas, CNNMoney reports. Toys 'R Us will stay open a total of 112 hours straight, from 6am this Tuesday to 10pm Christmas Eve.
For its part, 14 Macy's stores around the country will stay open for 83 hours straight, from Wednesday to Saturday, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The move isn't unprecedented for either outlet, but this year retailers have been especially aggressive about pursuing consumers that they feared may be tightening holiday budgets due to the economy. In response, stores have been offering shoppers big discounts, while giving them ample opportunity to take advantage during the holiday season.
On Black Friday,Target, Best Buy and others opened their stores at midnight in an effort to lure shoppers as early as possible, much to the ire of many of their workers. One Target employee began a petition protesting the store's midnight Black Friday opening, which ultimately received over 100,000 signatures.
A Best Buy employee started a similar petition asking the store not to open at midnight on Black Friday so they could spend more of Thanksgiving with their families.
Despite the petitions, shoppers turned out in droves, some, such as those that started a near riot over two-dollar waffle makers, indicate a certain degree of financial stress.
Regardless, many sales estimates indicated that they will likely continue to do so as Christmas approaches. The National Retail Federation boosted its initial estimate for November and December retail sales to a 3.8 percent increase, which they predict will result in a record $469.1 billion total worth of holiday shopping.
One type of job available at Toys R Us ranks among the lowest paying in the country:
