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Shoppers Get A Head Start On Black Friday On Thanksgiving

ROSEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) – The Target store in Roseville opened at 6 p.m. Thursday and shoppers were lined up ready to go.

While there are a lot of stores opening early this Thanksgiving, there was one stop we found that had people lining up for days.

A little song and dance, along with a lot of layers, helped this group of shoppers stay warm as they waited in line for the Best Buy in Richfield to open.

"I have a turtleneck, a hoodie, fur jacket, a regular jacket," Gail Bennett said.

Joe Geary has been camped out since Monday.

His early black Friday shopping tradition goes back more than 20 years.

"I got three heaters in my tent. You walk into my tent and it's like 40 or 50 degree. I got a little kitchenette food, dinning room. Bacon and eggs in the morning," Geary said.

Whether shopping in Richfield or across town in Roseville, many people had a specific item on the list.

The big shopping item?

"A 50 inch T.V" Bennett said.

"I'm getting a T.V and a camera for myself," on man said.

"Everybody who is standing here, they are looking for a T.V," another shopper said.

But while stores like Target, JCPenny, and Toys R Us had barricades up to handle early Black Friday crowds, there weren't any lines during the day.

The cold had some shoppers waiting to go to those stores until they open, prepping for a long night.

While some shoppers missed their Thanksgiving dinner, they didn't miss out on their family time.

"I did this with my son. We were going to do Thanksgiving and he's like 'Let's go do this. Mom are you really going to do it with me?' Yeah!" Bennett said.

Black Friday Shoppers
(credit: CBS)

Best Buy opened at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Targets will open at 6 p.m. and will stay open until 11 p.m. Friday evening.

Cyber Monday is another day for sales. The Monday after Thanksgiving is often when stores do their big discounts online.

But looking around online Thursday, several stores already had major deals available right now.

Target, JCPenny, Best Buy, all have deals posted, so if you don't want to brave the crowds and cold check out your favorite store online.

Cold Temperatures Won't Deter These Black Friday Shoppers

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