Black Friday shoppers camping out for bargains

Shoppers start lining up earlier and earlier for Black Friday each year, hoping to nab some killer deals – especially on big-ticket items like electronics.

In Merced, several giant retailers had customers already lined up in front of their stores by early Wednesday afternoon, waiting more than 24 hours until doors open this evening.

Best Buy on West Olive Avenue had about three people nestled inside two tents Wednesday, while Target saw its line of customers growing steadily. Most customers brought chairs to get through the wait.

“We already have a small group of guests waiting outside,” said Sara Pena, Target’s executive team leader of human resources. “It’s the busiest day of the year and the season, so there’s always a lot of fun and excitement building up to this day.”

Pena said people are anticipating Target’s big deals on electronics, such as a 50-inch television that will have a major discount. The Merced retailer added extra staff members to ensure that the big day – which actually begins at 6 p.m. today – runs as smoothly as possible.

“We just make sure we are staffed, and have a safe and secure store for our guests and team members,” she said.

But Black Friday is not the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season anymore, with deals coming early and continuing well past the day after Thanksgiving.

“Black Friday isn’t what Black Friday used to be. It’s bled into Thanksgiving,” says Phoenix-based retail consultant Jeff Green of Jeff Green Partners.

An estimated 140 million people will shop between Thursday and Sunday, about 61 percent of all people surveyed in a National Retail Federation/Prosper Insights & Analytics survey.

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Black Friday shoppers camping out for bargains."