Fenton Residents Prepare for Black Friday

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.

They join and , 24-hour superstores which both have sales that begin on Thanksgiving. Meijer has deals from 6 a.m. to midnight and a second round of door busters from 4 a.m. until noon on Black Friday while Walmart sales start at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Not everyone is happy with this continuing culture shift, however, including  Target cart attendant Anthony Hardwick, of Omaha, NE. He started an online petition against Target's change that's collected nearly 100,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.

"With the midnight open, you're going to cut into a lot of people's family time because you have to rest up if you're going to be working overnight," the 29-year-old told USA Today, adding he'll be in bed by 2 or 3 p.m on Thanksgiving.

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."

Many Fenton shoppers plan to head out no matter what the hours.

Janice Charette Schuchaskie posted on Fenton's Patch's Facebook Page, "It's awesome! My husband and I go every year, usually stay local to Fenton and don't stress about it if we get it cool if we don't, 'oh well.' It's just fun to get such great deals."

This year she is gunning for 600 thread count sheets for $20 at

Others go for the shopping, but also enjoy hanging out with family.

 "I think the best part is being up all night with my sisters," Nicole Cooley Fishback posted on Fenton's Patch's Facebook Page.

"I think its a fun way to spend time with family," Joshua Latimer said. "Its fun to people watch too (and people are crazy!) A few years back I got to best buy at 4:45 am and I was the 180th person in line! Just to get a TV."

Matt D. Vultaggio has a different approach. "Do it all online and sleep in," he said. The Monday after Thanksgiving is known as "Cyber Monday" when many retail stores run sales on their websites for online shoppers.

While all Best Buy stores will open at midnight on Black Friday, select stores will kickoff 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, Twelve Oaks, Roseville and Westland.

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.

It could be one of the biggest Black Friday's ever.

According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch, up to 152 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), higher than the 138 million people who planned to do so last year.