Who needs Black Friday? More stores are opening Thanksgiving Day.

“People want to do more than just eat and watch football,” says Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the NRF in Washington. “As long as there is a need, retailers are looking for ways to meet it.”

One of those is Gap, Inc., which owns Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Gap stores.

Two years ago, it opened a few Old Navy stores on Thanksgiving Day. Last year, it opened more of them. And this year, it will open about 90 percent of its 800 Old Navy stores, about 100 Gap stores, and a handful of Banana Republic stores.

“It seems like people want to shop on Thanksgiving,” says Stacy Rollo, a spokeswoman for Gap, Inc., in San Francisco.

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, says only the 24-hour stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day – if it’s not a violation of local laws. However, this year, for the first time most of the rest of the stores will open at midnight on Friday instead of 5 a.m. for what Walmart is calling an “Open House.”

However, some consumers and retail workers are unhappy over the prospect of working on Thanksgiving.

“It's one thing for stores to open at a crazy hour on the day after Thanksgiving to attract the 'Black Friday' crowds," says one entry on Facebook. “You can bet your pumpkin pie that the Execs are scarfing down turkey while their employees are having to work instead of having a day off with family.”

On the Internet, a blogger by the name of Rachel Mace is suggesting people boycott Sears, which is open from 7 a.m. to noon on Thanksgiving Day. Kmart, which is owned by Sears, is open all day. “Abusing Retail Workers is not cool,” she writes.

However, Kim Freely, a spokeswoman for Sears Holdings in Chicago, says it has asked its workers to volunteer to work that day. “Given the tough economic times, there has been a demand from associates to supplement their income with holiday premium pay,” says Ms. Freely.

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