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Black Friday during COVID-19 expected to start early, offer more deals online and curbside pick-up

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Some families' tradition of lining up outside of big box stores on Thanksgiving night and joining the shopping frenzy is far from COVID-19 friendly and it won't be happening, at least this year.

With the upcoming holidays, stores like Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Best Buy, and more have announced they will be closed on Thanksgiving.

"Instead of a single day or weekend, they're going to be rolling out deals early and giving people as much as a month or more to shop them," said Kristin McGrath. She's the editor at BlackFriday.com.

McGrath said many big box stores will follow Home Depot's lead. The home improvement retailer announced it's offering shoppers Black Friday deals for two months, starting in October. She predicts other stores will be doing the same.

"They are really going to be firing at all cylinders for as long as they possibly can this year. They really need this season to be successful," she said.

McGrath said stores want to make up for any lost revenue they experienced during the pandemic.

"Will the discounts be better than they've ever been?" Consumer Investigator Kristin Byrne asked McGrath.

"As far as prices go, shoppers are going to see what they're used to as far as low prices and discounts," McGrath said.

McGrath predicts shoppers will not only be buying more online, but they'll do curbside pick-up if they can't get free shipping.

Despite COVID-19, some shoppers still want that in-store holiday shopping experience. BlackFriday.com's recent surveyshows 32 percent of Midwesterners want in-store doorbusters and 56 percent surveyed said they feel safe shopping in-store this holiday season.

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