Attention Black Friday shoppers: You'd better eat your turkey and fixings in a hurry this year because the holiday shopping rush is set to start earlier than ever. For some stores, Black Friday sales will start on Thursday. 
 
 Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving -- is traditionally the start of the holiday shopping season. It is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and the most anticipated. 
 
 This year, Macy's, Kohl's, Target and Best Buy will open at midnight to capture the most shoppers possible. So instead of shoppers rushing into stores at 4 a.m., they will likely be heading home at that time. 
 
 Great Lakes Crossing Outlets will start Black Friday sales at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 What does this mean? 
 
 "I think what's going on is everybody's worried about Christmas," said Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, a firm that tracks shopper trends. "I think these midnight openings are just a reflection of retailers saying they can't take any chances." 
 
 Midnight deals on Black Friday an attempt to draw in shoppers 
 
 Stores are opening earlier than ever for Black Friday, and that's good news for bargain hunter DuSha Montgomery. 
 
 "It's going to be a great thing," said Montgomery, 37, of Redford Township, who plans to spend part of her Thanksgiving with her mother and sister, waiting outside stores for midnight openings. 
 
 "I figure we can get in there and then get some rest," she said. 
 
 So far, Best Buy, Target, Kohl's and Macy's have announced that they will open at midnight on Black Friday. 
 
 Toys R Us, which has previously opened on Thanksgiving to start Black Friday sales, will open at 10 p.m. Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills is planning to open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving. 
 
 "The 9 p.m. opening just really seemed right based on how early people were getting in line last year" when the mall opened at midnight, said Melissa Morang, marketing and sponsorship director for Great Lakes Crossing Outlets. 
 
 Experts suggest the early openings could be a way for stores to capture a bigger share of Black Friday shoppers during a holiday shopping season that is not expected to be as robust as last year's. 
 
 According to the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association, holiday retail sales are expected to rise 2.8% over last year. That growth is lower than the 5.2% increase retailers saw last year, the NRF said. 
 
 "I think there's a lot of consumers that would much rather stay up until midnight and shop, than get up at 3 o'clock in the morning, and shop at 4," said Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, a Charleston, S.C.-based company that monitors consumer behavior. 
 
 "There's no doubt in my mind, between midnight and 6 in the morning, at least half of the households are going to shop on Black Friday," Beemer said. 
 
 Said Mark Davidoff, Michigan's managing partner for the Deloitte consulting firm: "The Lions are going to beat the Green Bay Packers, then we're going to eat -- and we're going to eat and eat and eat -- and we're going to clean up ... and before long, it's going to be midnight. As long as we're already still up, why don't we go shopping? 
 
 "There's a segment of the population that would never get up in the middle of the night and stand in line and wait for the door to open at 4 a.m.," Davidoff added. "However, they might say, 'I don't want to go to bed right now, I'm going to go shopping.' " 
 
 Montgomery is already working on a shopping strategy. "Years past, we didn't go until 3 o'clock in the morning," she said. "Last year, we went at about 8 o'clock at night -- right after Thanksgiving dinner." 
 
 This year, she said, she'll leave even earlier: "I'm thinking about 6 o'clock" on Thanksgiving evening. ||||| NEW YORK It may not be a blood bath, but it will definitely be a dogfight. 
 
 The television aisles of top U.S. retailers are poised for a hard-fought contest this holiday season as chains take little chances with budget-conscious shoppers. 
 
 Unlike last year when some such as Best Buy held the line on discounts and promoted only high-end TVs, many retailers told Reuters this past week that they plan to do whatever it takes to get the customer through the door. 
 
 For the consumer, expect to see price cuts of up to 40 percent from a year ago on big-screen TVs, plus free shipping deals and even a 36-month financing option, in the run-up to "Black Friday" on November 25, the unofficial start of the holiday selling season. 
 
 "As we look at the holiday season, we are going to play offense," Hhgregg Inc Chief Executive Officer Dennis May told Reuters in an interview last week. "We are going to be very promotional. We are going to be aggressive." 
 
 U.S. shoppers have held off on buying televisions and other nonessential items in the anemic economy. But the TV market is also a victim of a lackluster product cycle. 
 
 Early last week, Japanese manufacturer Sony Corp warned investors that its TV division is headed for its eighth consecutive annual loss, while rival Panasonic Corp forecast its biggest annual net loss in a decade. 
 
 "My outlook is not any different from Panasonic and Sony," Anthony Chukumba, an analyst with BB&T; Capital Markets said. "We have a lull right now in terms of TV demand; part of it is macro-driven, part of it is product cycle-driven. There is just not a lot of innovation out there. 
 
 "And a couple of things that may in fact just have been counted on to drive incremental demand like 3-D and Internet-connected smart TVs are just not working." 
 
 Against this backdrop, global demand for televisions is expected to fall about 1 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Paul Gagnon, director of North American TV research for consulting firm Display Search. 
 
 This will fuel the intense fight for shoppers as they look for the biggest bang for their buck during the holiday season. 
 
 "It is starting even earlier than usual. You are seeing sharp promotions. You are seeing Wal-Mart out there with a TV this weekend and Amazon.com with special deals. It is upping the overall intensity," Bernstein analyst Colin McGranahan said. 
 
 "It is going to be a dogfight. Everyone's going to be fighting because demand is not great," McGranahan said. 
 
 Best Buy has already said it would offer free shipping on online orders from November 1 through December 27. On TVs costing more than $899, the world's largest consumer electronics chain is offering 36-month financing, a 60-day price guarantee and a promise to even pick up the TV from the customer's house if the model was not what he or she really wanted. 
 
 "Given economic realities, consumers are definitely more discerning this holiday season, definitely looking for the best value for their money," Mike Mohan, senior vice president and general manager of Home Theater at Best Buy, said. 
 
 FOCUS IS ON BIGGER SCREENS 
 
 Industry watchers expect retailers to focus less on promoting special features like 3-D technology, which can be difficult for the average consumer to understand. 
 
 "Today's TVs have so many capabilities such as Smart TV, Internet and 3-D technology and there are also a lot of confusing terms such as screen refresh rate and HDMI Inputs. Consumers can become overwhelmed and have difficulty understanding what television will meet their needs," Jim Hilson, BJ's Wholesale vice president of merchandising said. 
 
 Instead, they expect the focus to be on screen size, stressing the increased affordability of big screens. 
 
 "In the U.S. which is one of the more mature markets around the world for TVs, one that has already largely gone through the flat-panel TV transition, mostly what people are out there doing right now is updating the size," Gagnon said. 
 
 Hhgregg said it is carrying more giant TVs with 60-inch and above screens, and reducing its inventory of 32- and 40-inch TVs this holiday season. 
 
 "I can get a 60-inch TV for what I used to pay for a 40-inch TV," Hhgregg CEO May said. "The screen size the consumer has always wanted has become affordable to them now." 
 
 Due to their focus on larger sizes, retailers including Best Buy, BJ's, Sam's Club and Hhgregg told Reuters that they will not be reducing their shelf space for televisions despite the uncertainty in demand. 
 
 "To some degree, the 42 (inch) is the new 32. The 55 is the new 42," said Jason Shaw, vice president of merchandising for electronics at Wal-Mart's Sam's Club warehouse store operation. "They are getting more for their money than they have ever gotten before." 
 
 (Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in New York, editing by Bernard Orr and Maureen Bavdek)
– Planning to score a new TV on Black Friday? Apparently this is the year to do so, as deals are exploding in what one analyst calls a “dogfight” between top US retailers. Last year, some retailers only slashed prices on high-end TVs. This year, expect to see discounts across the board—including cuts of up to 40% from one year ago on big-screens—plus other incentives, like free shipping, as companies do whatever they can to lure customers. The TV market is not doing well as recession shoppers avoid purchasing nonessential items, Reuters notes. “As we look at the holiday season, we are going to play offense,” says the CEO of Hhgregg Inc. “We are going to be aggressive.” An analyst adds that the promotions are “starting even earlier than usual,” which is “upping the overall intensity. … It is going to be a dogfight. Everyone's going to be fighting because demand is not great.” In further Black Friday news, it’s not just Macy’s and Target opening at midnight. The Detroit Free Press reports that Black Friday sales are starting earlier than ever—some as early as 9pm on Thursday, for those gluttons who want to go straight from turkey to shopping.