EARLIER OPENINGS, HOLIDAY PAY

With "Black Friday" deals being offered before Thanksgiving tables were even set on Thursday, some were criticizing the retail industry's approach. Critics circulated online petitions, and a handful of franchise owners said they had defied corporate orders by keeping their stores closed.

Target Corp, Best Buy Co Inc and Toys R Us are opening earlier on Thursday than they did last year. Many Wal-Mart Stores Inc US locations will be open all day, with Thanksgiving specials offered beginning at 6 p.m.

Department store chains Kohl's Corp, J.C. Penney Co Inc, Macy's all announced earlier this year they would open on Thanksgiving Day for the first time ever.

"The ones that are opening earlier are going to get more sales, but in the end, I don't think the overall pie gets any bigger. It's just a share gain," said Brian Yarbrough, a retail analyst with Edward Jones.

He also estimates that overall sales for November and December will be up 2.8 percent. That is more conservative than the 3.9 percent jump forecast by the National Retail Federation. The profit on those extra sales will depend on whether the eye-catching doorbuster sale prices are margin-squeezing loss leaders, analysts said.

At Macy's flagship store in New York City, five hundred employees will be working on Thanksgiving Day. The store, one of the Big Apple's most visited tourist sites, will be open for 26 straight hours, starting on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST.

A worker at Kmart in Manhattan said she had volunteered to work in order to earn extra money. Kmart workers are getting time and a half for the hours they week on Thanksgiving, Sears spokesman Howard Riefs said.

Black Friday is still is predicted by ShopperTrak to be this year's biggest day of the season for sales and traffic.