Thanksgiving night a shopping frenzy

CHICAGO (WLS) -- People took part in a mad shopping frenzy rush Thanksgiving night in the city and suburbs.

Retailers hoped their Thanksgiving hours would draw shoppers who prefer to head to stores after their turkey dinner rather than braving crowds Friday morning.

So much for the Thanksgiving food coma. State Street was hopping late Thursday night, as people took in the holiday windows at Macy's and headed into stores looking for a bargain.

There were cheers at Target from shoppers eager for hot deals after waiting out in the cold, and similar crowds at Macy's on State Street, which opened at 6 p.m. Thursday night. The handbag department swarmed with shoppers and for the first time on Thanksgiving, the Walnut Room was open.

John Becker and his two daughters were in from South Bend, Indiana, and got a table in front of the Christmas tree, its warm glow bathing the room in holiday cheer.

"The tree is just spectacular," Becker said. "It's just fantastic. The girls have seen it before. I haven't, so they wanted to share the experience with me."

There were stores that made it a point to be closed Thursday, among them Costco, Nordstrom, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Von Maur.

In Elgin, protestors in front of Walmart had a message about holiday workers low wages.

For better or for worse Thanksgiving, for many retailers, has become the new Black Friday.

"Only one of our top 25 deals is available on Friday, period," said Bradsdeals.com's Brad Wilson. "So Thursday is the day."

"It seems like every year, the times the stores open tend to get pushed back from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. to now it's 5 p.m.," said shopper Kenneth Moreland.

So, are there any deals left?

"We've got more in stock than we had last year, so I feel really good about some of the electronics," said Target manager Jane Legg. "Now, the door busters may be, there may be some limited quantities. But the rest of the stuff, we'll have it here if they want to buy it."

Many stores are not closing at all Thursday night, instead staying open through Black Friday. Macy's will close at 10 p.m. Friday night, making for 28 straight hours of holiday shopping.