Black Friday Draws Millions in Early Kickoff for Sales

Target Corp. took some flak for opening stores on Thanksgiving because doing so would give employees less celebrating time with their families. Still, the 9 p.m. start attracted more parents and their kids.

“Earlier is more convenient to get out after the Thanksgiving dinners,” said Bryan Everett, senior vice president of Target stores. The increase in families boosted purchases of clothes and home goods too as shoppers spent longer browsing than a year ago, he said.