Read more: Local, Shoppers, Thanksgiving, Walmart, Deals, Black, Friday, Christmas, Shopping, Holiday
Thanksgiving is traditionally a day for Americans to get together with their families and enjoy a big meal of turkey with all the trimmings.
This year, many families are also celebrating the holiday by getting started on their Christmas shopping a day early.
It used to be most stores were closed on Thanksgiving Day.
Anxious Christmas shoppers had to wait until the wee hours of Black Friday morning to cash in on the best deals.
Not this year. Retail stores are hurting during the recession, so this Thanksgiving, many of them chose to keep their doors open over the holiday and many shoppers seem to like it.
"Just because to get the good buys and sales that they have," said Bobbi Jean Kennedy from Belton, SC
Shoppers like Alethea Bryant of North Carolina, typically find themselves doing something very different on Thanksgiving Day.
"Usually when i'm at home with my family, I'm cooking. But since I didn't have to cook today, I thought maybe get out and shop with the kids. A nice break," said Bryant.
The National Retail Federation expects retail sales to be down about one percent this Christmas season compared to last year, and last year was terrible for holiday sales.
For K-mart stores, staying open on Thanksgiving Day isn't so unusual. They've done it for years.
But this year, Walmart and a number of other store chains are following suit to give shoppers a head start on the bargains.
The opportunity to take advantage of the discounts is what brought Carolyn McMahan to the K-mart store on Thanksgiving Day.
"Yes, especially the good bargains. You can't beat this, 88 cents for a pair of socks," said McMahan.
Good deals are just part of the story. Avoiding the Black Friday crush is also appealing to many shoppers.
One Thanksgiving Day shopper who heads to the stores every year on turkey day points out that, these days, Americans never really stop shopping. No matter what time of day, or day of the year.
"All the time, if the store's open, they're coming," asserted Carl Franklin from Hickory, NC.
Economists report, the consumer confidence index improved slightly in November, but is still about half the historic average.
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