The early bird gets the worm thousands of South Florida shoppers flooded stores on Thanksgiving looking for Black Friday deals. It's one of several steps being taken by brick and mortar stores to compete with their online counterparts.
More than 300 people waited in line for doors to open at 8PM Thursday for a Toys R' Us in Doral.
Black Friday has been steadily encroaching on Thanksgiving day across the country. Stores want to give consumers more flexibility and more time to take advantage of Black Friday sales.
The National Retail Federation estimates that overall sales will rise this year in November and December by 4.1%.
According to Forrester Research, the online part of that is expected to rise 15%.
Retailers are pulling out the stops to attract customers to their stores. Along with earlier Black Friday start times, stores are matching the cheaper prices found online by offering free layaway and shipping.