JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Many stores have already opened up their doors for customers who just couldn't wait one more day for the mega deals.
As more and more stores open earlier, the concept of "Gray Thursday" is receiving backlash from customers. And thousands of customers are now also saying no to the shopping day entirely, signing petitions against Black Friday.
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News4Jax spoke to a few customers who said they understand stores have to make money, but they don't feel the extra day is necessary.
Many of the people said people should be with their families, not shopping. But other people said stores aren't forcing customers to shop.
"It's going to creep -- one hour more, one hour more into Thanksgiving," said shopper Christina Dixon. "It's just going to be a whole week of shopping."
Dixon described it as a slippery slope.
"I would keep it to Black Friday. It's just kind of -- it's one day that's your shopping day, and Thursday is your hang out with your family day," she said.
That's exactly how thousands of online protesters felt. According to change.org, there are now 71 Black Friday petitions with thousands of signatures, all calling for retailers and consumers to push Black Friday to Friday.
There are even Facebook pages that call for shoppers to boycott Black Friday so customers and employees can spend time with friends and family on Thanksgiving.
"Now you can get deals Wednesday, Thursday, it kind of defeats the purpose of it," said shopper Joe Thompson. "For my kind of job, Black Friday is great. But Thursday, for people to have to work like that, it's not that great. I feel bad for them."
But at the end of the day, or into the night, many shoppers argue that stores are just trying to make money.
"This is the time of the year that most retailers have to make their money, and I understand that," said shopper Stan Bowker. "If a person wants to go and shop, it's an individual's choice and up to them."
There is also a petition on change.org for Best Buy that's calling for the store to go back to opening at 5 a.m. on Friday. More than 16,000 people have already signed.