Is Thanksgiving day too early for Black Friday shopping?

Thursday, November 28, 2019

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT)-- To shop or not to shop... it's the question people face every Thanksgiving as stores begin to open their doors earlier.

For Ian Peterson, it was his first time camping out all day long for a good deal.

"We got here at like 8:00 a.m. and there was actually no one here so we went to waffle house, came back," Ian Peterson said.

All day long, Ian held the first spot as the crowds behind him grew bigger, the line longer, wrapping around the building.

"We've got snacks, we've got food, we've got chairs, we've got Disney+," Peterson said. "We're good!"

But many will argue Black Friday can wait until Friday. This year, according to TheBlackFriday.com, more than 70 stores are closed on Thanksgiving including big names like Costco, Home Goods and Marshalls.

"I feel like it's a lot different then what people say," shopper Micah Gadsten said. " It doesn't feel like everyone is going to murder each other or something like that like hunger games."

But for this 10-year-old at Best Buy, today was a day for the books.

"I'm just looking for something good, not expensive, just small," 10-year-old Saimithun Varma said. "Probably a big TV with a magic remote."

It's a day he hopes is his family's new Thanksgiving tradition.

"I used to always watch it on TV, but now I'm here and I really like it," Varma said. "Just to have the experience, it's really good."

It's a tradition that keeps people coming back every single year.

We took a Facebook poll asking whether you shop when stores open early on Thanksgiving day or wait until Friday. Here were the results: