Rosedale Macy's Marathon: Shop 'Til You Drop?

At the Rosedale Macy's, the marathon retail push to Christmas is on.

The venerable, anchor department store in Roseville will be open 83 straight hours from 7 a.m. Wednesday (today) until 6 p.m. on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. This is the third consecutive holiday season that Macy's has offered the mega-shopping hours.

"It (the non-stop hours) is a great opportunity for customers," said Deanna Infante-Dever, assistant store manager at the Rosedale Macy's. "We are ready to serve every customer."

Althougth not detailing specifics, Infante-Dever added, "It (the non-stop hours) takes a lot of planning and workforce to do this."

In the competitive scramble for holiday sales, such extended store hours among retailers "has proven to be very successful," said Dave Brennan, co-director of the Institute for Retailing Excellence at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business. "We have seen that with Macy's and others," particularly with the creep of Black Friday into the evening hours of Thanksgiving Day, he said.

Brennan said Macy's marathon hours make sense given that the department store is arguably the most centrally-located major shopping center in the Twin Cities area. Rosedale Center is located just north of Highway 36 between Snelling and Fairview avenues.

"It (the non-stop hours) is a vote of confidence not only for Rosedale Center but for this Macy's, in particular," Brennan told Roseville Patch.

Macy's marathon hours come as the National Retail Federation has recently raised its consumer holiday spending estimate for a 3.8 percent gain compared to last year from its original estimate for a 2.8 percent gain.

In the Twin Cities, Brennan's 10th annual Holiday Spending Sentiment survey is predicting a 3.4 percent increase in consumer buying for the Christmas season compared to the same period in 2010.