Black Friday Slowly Becoming Black Thursday

If Black Friday starts any earlier, it will be Black Thursday.

Several big retail chains in Avon, including , , and , are kicking off the annual day-after-Thanksgiving shopping holiday at 12 a.m. Friday.

is beginning its door-buster deals at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.

“We need to keep our foot in the door with our competition,” said a customer service manager at Kohl’s in Avon Commons who wished not to be identified.

is taking it a step further.

“This year we’ll be opening at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday,” said Shannon Masters, store manager.

Masters said Black Friday is always the highest grossing sales day at the store, which was pushed to open on Thursday this year after the big-box stores decided to push their hours into Thanksgiving Day.

“Our competition is only going to be open during normal hours on Friday,” Masters said. “It’s a chance for us to also create new customers.”

But some say this year’s midnight blitz is crossing the line.

According to the New York Times, some workers at retail chains including Target created online petitions urging the stores to hold off until 5 a.m.

Anthony Hardwick of Omaha told the Times he will have to leave his fiancee’s family dinner early, so he can get some sleep before he works at 11 p.m. on Thursday at Target, and then on Friday at Office Max.

The manager at Kohl’s said she understands people’s frustration, but it comes with the job.

“It’s starting to cut into the actual Thanksgiving dinner,” she said. “But in retail, you have to keep up with your competition.”

Masters said employees at Caribou have the chance to sign up for two holidays per year, including Black Friday.

“When you work in retail, you can pretty much expect that you’re going to be working Black Friday,” she said.