By Rieva Lesonsky

As fall officially gets underway Marketwatch reported there might be two Black Fridays this year. For the first time in no one knows how many years, the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving fall on the same day-November 28. (The next time this will happen is 70,000 years from now.)

This impacts retail entrepreneurs in several ways. First, Hanukkah shopping will take place earlier than ever this year, and there are fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Marketwatch speculates this could be bad for retailers hoping for a strong holiday sales season, since there are fewer days to shop overall, and a divided holiday shopping season (pre- and post-Thanksgiving).

Or some retail experts say “Thanksgivukkah”  (as some have dubbed it) will be a positive, giving retailers a good excuse to start promoting holiday shopping earlier than normal. One expert told Marketwatch, “If they [retailers] can do two Black Fridays, they will do it.”In fact, one company where I live is planning an early “Hanukkah-friendly” holiday promotion for October 21.

If you live in an area with a fairly large Jewish population, promoting early holiday specials is a no-brainer. But be careful with your overall holiday sales promotions; you don’t want to discount earlier than you have to.

My favorite part of this holiday convergence is the Menurkey, a Hanukkah menorah (candle holder) shaped like a turkey. The 9-year-old boy who came up with the idea has already raised more than $48,000 on Kickstarter.

Photo Courtesy: Menurkey.
To pre-order email info@menurkey.com.

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship. Email Rieva at rieva@smallbizdaily.com, follow her on Google+   and Twitter.com/Rieva and visit her website, SmallBizDaily.com, to get the scoop on business trends and sign up for Rieva’s free TrendCast reports.