Forget Black Friday. This year more retailers are jump-starting the holiday shopping season by opening on Thanksgiving Day.
Millions of people wait all year to shop the day after Thanksgiving, but with the internet enticing more and more sale seekers, retailers have had to adjust.
Getting people in the store instead of logging on at home, combined with the intensity of competition among retailers, has prompted an opening war of sorts, with some stores throwing open their doors as early as Thanksgiving night.
Consumer guru Richard Warner says look for Black Friday to last even longer.
"In fact it's now going to morph in to 'Black Week,' which is going to start Thanksgiving and go for seven days," Warner said.
Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, Sears and K-Mart are among those that'll open at 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Brandsmart, Kohl's and Best Buy will open up at midnight.
Walmart has already rolled out one of the most anticipated Black Friday ads this year. Henry Greene, manager of the Decatur store said that this year Walmart will offer a guarantee of sorts if certain Black Friday stock isn't available.
"We will give them a card where they go on online. order the merchandise. They'll have it before Christmas," Green said.
Some deals that shoppers can look forward to this year include:
WALMART:
LG Blu-ray Player for $38
Apple iPad 2 16GB WiFi 9.7" Tablet with a $75 Walmart Gift Card for $399
Shopper Dawn Cooper said that she may be looking for a deal on Black Friday, but she won't be among those lining up on Black Thursday.
"I think that the Friday thing was good, but Thanksgiving is kind of taking away from family time and I won't do that," Cooper said.
If you don't mind giving up some of your personal information, you can be the first to know about certain Black Friday sales by joining your favorite store's Twitter feed, "liking" their Facebook page or registering your email address on their website.
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