Black Friday a thing of the past | News

SACRAMENTO -  Not so long ago, the tradition was: eat Thanksgiving dinner; go to bed early; then wake up at some ungodly hour to hit the stores for Black Friday.  Now, that tradition is about to change. 

Walmart will start the first of three Black Friday sales at at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.  Last year, Walmart opened at 10 p.m., so they're pushing Black Friday back by two hours.

Sears is opening its stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.  Last year, they opened at 4 a.m. on Black Friday. 

K-Mart will open its doors from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.  Then they'll re-open for a second time on Black Friday.  And you can expect other retailers to follow the trend.

The reason this is happening, is because of customer demand.  Research has shown that people want to shop earlier.

According to the National Retail Federation, last year 24 percent of shoppers said they were at a store at midnight on Black Friday.  Just two years earlier, that number was only at 9 percent.