Let the shopping madness begin in the greater Chattanooga area

photo Shoes on sale are displayed at a store as the busy holiday shopping season begins.

Who's open and when?TODAY Kmart - 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Target - 9 p.m. Walmart - 8 p.m. Sears - 8 p.m.Toys R Us - 8 p.m. H.H. Gregg - 10 p.m.Friday mall hoursHamilton Place, Northgate Mall and Walnut Square Mall - Select stores will open at midnight; the others will open at 4 a.m.Bradley Square Mall - MidnightSource: Survey of retailers

In the litany of life's great questions - paper or plastic? Boxers or briefs? - comes another whose answers fall on either side of a bright, unbridgeable line: shop or not?

Is Black Thursday, formerly known as Thanksgiving, an open window for eager spenders, or another beachhead in the annual assault on the holiday calendar by retailers?

For some Chattanooga Times Free Press readers, it's no contest. Among more than 75 comments posted on Facebook, only a handful of people were looking forward to hitting the stores this afternoon.

The rest were a variation on these:

"Are you crazy??!"

"A lady in a scooter ran all over my feet on a Black Friday past working in [an area retail store]. I can't remember if that was before or after a child peed under a clothing rack."

Still, many retailers believe opening today will help boost their bottom lines quickly at the start of the frenzied holiday shopping season.

However, one Facebook commenter, who apparently is still sore about the presidential election, asked:

"Did you ever hear of stores opening on Thanksgiving before Obama was elected president?"

Since the 2000s, Thanksgiving weekend has been the holiday season's best for shopping.Last year some stores began Black Friday sales on Thursday opening their doors before midnight.

Upcoming Events