A large mall crowd assembles in this Flickr photo by Robert Barney.

‘Tis the season for early bird specials and doorbuster sales. Macy’s announced this year its stores will be open on Thanksgiving for the first time in the retailer’s history. The move is intended to give shoppers even more of an opportunity to save.

Haim Mano,  associate professor of marketing at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, discussed retailers opening on Thanksgiving as part of a guest panel on the Oct. 19 edition of “The Pulse of St. Louis” on KPLR (Channel 11).

Mano said retailers are opening earlier because their competition is doing it and shoppers will go where the sales are, ultimately driving businesses to open earlier.

“People will be there,” he said. “They love the thrill of the hunt. They want to go into the store and get the good deal.”

Click here to watch the four-segment edition of “The Pulse of St. Louis.”