Black Friday Is Now Black Thursday For Some Stores

Go ahead and call it Black Thursday!

Black Friday, one of the biggest, if not the biggest shopping day of the year, is moving up a few hours at many stores. So shoppers planning on being first in line on Black Friday next week better arrive a few hours earlier, on Thanksgiving night, because many stores won’t be waiting until Friday to open their doors.

“We’re doing a little something different this year,” said Rob Diaz, manager of the Best Buy store on Viscount Boulevard for the past five years, who knows how crazy things can get on Black Friday. “We’re opening up at midnight, and we’re not the only ones doing this.”

In fact, just about every big store in the Borderland and across the country is opening earlier. Toys R Us will open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night. Walmart opens at 10 p.m. and Target at midnight, upsetting some employees.

A Target employee in Nebraska started an online petition against working on Thanksgiving. He’s gathered more than 100,000 signatures. But Target is sticking with its game plan.

“I’ve worked like that before and it’s no fun,” El Paso shopper Robert Ramirez said. “Everybody else is off, but you have to work.”

ABC-7 spoke to several employees off-camera at Best Buy about working on Thanksgiving night. None of them were very happy about it, and only one of them was willing to talk about it on camera.

“It’s going to be an adjustment,” said Roman Rodriguez, a four-year employee of Best Buy. “I’d rather spend it with my family, but I gotta do what I gotta do.”

Shopper Lilly Sermeno said she is looking forward to having a few more hours of shopping next week.

“To me it’s OK, because you spend time with your family all the time,” Sermeno said.

Cielo Vista and Sunland Park malls will open at 4 a.m. on Black Friday. Cielo Vista is even selling $20 VIP packages, complete with special parking privileges and a lounge for shoppers. Mall officials said they’ve sold about 100 of those so far.

The following stores and shopping centers have announced their holiday shopping hours:

Toys R Us: 9 p.m. Nov. 24.

Walmart: 10 p.m. Nov. 24.

Babies R Us: 5 a.m. Nov. 25.

Bealls: Midnight Nov. 25.

Best Buy: Midnight Nov. 25.

Cielo Vista Mall: 4 a.m. – 9 p.m. Nov. 25.

JCPenney: 4 a.m. Nov. 25.

Kohl’s: Midnight Nov. 25

KMart: 5 a.m. Nov. 25.

Macy’s: Midnight Nov. 25.

Sears: 4 a.m. Nov. 25.

Sunland Park Mall: 4 a.m. – 9 p.m. Nov. 25.

Target: Midnight Nov. 25.