Black Friday Shopping Starts Early This Year

It will be a little harder to tell where Thanksgiving ends and Black Friday begins this year as several big box stores open their doors at midnight Nov. 25 in preparation for the biggest shopping day of the year.

Macy's, , and will open earlier than ever before. Last year, stores opened at 4 a.m.

Kristy Welker, a spokesperson for Target, said they are changing their hours this year for customer convenience.

"Every holiday at Target is different," Welker said. "We work hard to ensure the entire experience delivers on what our guests want and need. We have heard from our guests that they want Target to be their first stop for their Black Friday shopping. By opening at midnight, we are making it easier than ever for our guests to shop the great assortment we offer, when they want to shop."

Target.com will feature new holiday-geared 'Daily Deals' that will offer exclusive one-day savings of up to 50 percent off Target’s regular prices. Mega Merry Mondays will kick off each week with deals on 17 hot items and Total Toy Tuesdays will offer deep discounts on five toy favorites.

In addition, Target will offer free shipping when customers purchase $50 or more online from Nov. 21 to Dec. 11.

While all Best Buy stores will open at midnight on Black Friday, select stores will kick-off the holiday shopping season Thursday night with an outdoor screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. The movie will start around 9 p.m., with giveaways and refreshments preceding it at 8 p.m.

Participating Best Buy locations are stores in Auburn Hills, Novi, West Oaks, Roseville and Westland.

Ricky Martin, Brighton Best Buy assistant manager, said that tablets such as iPads and e-readers were going to be a hot item this season.

"Kindle put out three new e-readers just for the holiday season," Martin said. "We have two of them, the third hasn't been released yet. One's just called the Kindle and it's a black and white standard e-reader. The Kindle Fire came out today (Tuesday) and it's full color. It's almost borderline tablet - you can check your Facebook and email on it, but it doesn't have full internet browsing capability. So it's not quite to the tablet extent, but it's still an awesome little e-reader."

Best Buy is also offering free shipping and in-store pick-up on all orders now through Dec. 27, with no miniumum purchase required.

Pinckney resident Deborah Farkas commented on Brighton Patch's Facebook page that she was happy about the midnight openings.

"It's easier for me to stay up late," she said.

Other commenters said they usually don't participate in Black Friday because of all the stress.

"I can appreciate how people enjoy the mad rush of Black Friday and all the crowds and conquests, but it is not for me," Laurie Marr Umlauf said. "I went once with my sister and, while I enjoyed being with her and having some laughs, I would not do it on my own!"

Michelle Franz Vincent said she plans on sleeping in and then heading over to Green Oak Village Place mid-afternoon.

"I may shop some Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales on-line from the comfort of my home -- minus the rude, pushing, crazy people," Vincent said. "There's nothing I need badly enough to shop while I should be sleeping!"

The Monday after Thanksgiving is known as "Cyber Monday" when many retail stores run sales on their websites for online shoppers.