Business & Tech

Black Friday Shopping Starts Early This Year

Macy's, Kohl's, Target and Best Buy will open their doors at midnight on Nov. 25.

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.

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"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."

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.

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

Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch Facebook fans gave the earlier openings mixed reviews:

Elisa Oras said she would normally be opposed, "but being a busy person who is often not free until 8 or 9 pm from work, it is kind of convenient... I wish stores would be open one night a week late for people who just cannot fit it in." Still, she said, she's not likely to be shopping at midnight.

"No shopping at midnight!," Linda Ferrante LoCicero wrote. She said it's "too easy to get caught up in the excitement and rush of shopping ... and we would probably spend way more than we would otherwise." She said she'll be sticking to her regular holiday shopping schedule.

Pamela Gordon-Baril gave a simple response: "There is no way on earth you would catch me shopping at midnight in the crowds, I would rather pay full price."

John Ferguson believes the earlier hours are "all a ploy to get you into their store first and spend your money at their store first. What happened to stores opening at 8 or 9 am in the morning? What about the unfortunate folks that have to work at these stores? Are these people supposed to ignore their families on Thanksgiving so they can sleep all day to get up for work at 11 pm at night?"

It's a question Jessica Erickson could answer. She says employees are not happy about working odd shifts because of the extra-long hours. "I am working 9 pm Thanksgiving until 9 am the day after. Horrible shift for a nursing mother! But I will lose my job if I don't comply."

Shoppers may also wait until the Monday after Thanksgiving, known as "Cyber Monday", when many retail stores run sales on their websites for online shoppers.

Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch editor Joni Hubred-Golden also contributed to this report.


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