Stores stocked, ready for Black Friday

WALNUT CREEK (KGO) -- A lot of folks are planning to work off their Thanksgiving meal, by running through all the stores offering steep discounts on Black Friday -- that's the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

The so-called brick and mortar stores are gearing up for Black Friday by moving up their store opening times. Macy's is among the big retailers planning to open at midnight, Toys "R" Us can't even call it Black Friday because they're opening at 9 p.m. Thursday.

The boxes are stacked high at Sears, all ready for Friday's 5 a.m. opening and the more than 500 door busters being offered to bargain hunters. Like all big retailers, Sears is banking on Black Friday sales to set a brisk pace for the holiday season.

"This is the day that makes or breaks your year, so we're hoping that everybody decides to support the economy and come on out," said Julia King, a Sears manager.

Some ladies decided to hit the store early, figuring the already big discounts were good enough.

"We got a couple pairs of boots, one half off. Some good stuff. Half off on our ice cream maker," said shopper Maggie Freitas.

Retailers are counting on the fact that many shoppers will brave the crowds on Friday, hoping to top the 138 million who went post-Thanksgiving shopping last year.

"We had a very strong holiday season last year. All of 2011 has been positive, so we expect an even better holiday season this year," said Mike Fenley from the Sun Valley Mall.

Best Buy won't wait until 5 a.m. to open its doors. Like Macy's and some other big retailers, it's opening at midnight.

When Matthew Alvarez from Best Buy was asked if 5 a.m. was early enough, he said, "You know, I thought it was, but to stay competitive with everyone else out there, we decided in order to be competitive we need top ten at 12."

Among the deep discounts at Best Buy is a 24-inch Dynex TV for $79.99. Despite the coming attractions, shopper Keai Lucasey couldn't wait, even one more day for his game.

When asked why Lucasey didn't want to wait until Friday, he said, "I don't know, I just really wanted this game that just came out."

Some food retailers at the mall might be opening early as well betting that shoppers might be hungry.

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walnut creek, shopping, black friday, economy, business, laura anthony

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