Stores Spread Out Deals To Make Black Friday Safer

With Thanksgiving just days away, bargain hunters are already getting in line at the stores, so they can cash in on big savings on Black Friday.

A couple of tents have already been set up at the Best Buy at 71st and Highway 169.

An estimated 97 million people get out and shop on Black Friday, but many stores are opening even earlier on Thanksgiving Day.

Walmart says it had 10 million transactions company-wide last year during Black Friday. That comes to about 5,000 a second. They say it's all about the plan, for the shoppers and for the stores.

"Black Friday is the Super Bowl of retail," said Walmart spokesperson Betsy Harden.

A Walmart in Broken Arrow has the deals ready and the shoppers are drawing up their plans.

"You do have to have a plan. You can't just--I don't know how people do it, unless you know exactly what store you're going to at 12 o'clock at night," Laura Briggeman said.

Briggeman's plan includes getting out before Black Friday and even shopping online. Her 8-year-old son has a simpler plan.

"I just like my mom doing it," Trey Briggeman said, laughing.

Walmart has made changes this year, which it says should make for a more streamlined shopping experience. It has two events Thanksgiving night--the first at 6 o'clock, the other at 8 o'clock. Any shopper in line before the events start will get a wristband for those specific deals.

Check here for more details about Walmart's Black Friday Deals

You can then shop elsewhere in the store and you're guaranteed to get the item at the Black Friday price either that night or, if the stock runs out, before Christmas.

"They can get more shopping done and it just makes it a calmer, more enjoyable shopping experience for our customers," Harden said.

Over at Best Buy, the tents are out and the games underway as Josh Bushyhead and a friend wait for the Black Friday deals.

"This is tradition, this is the third year we've done it," Bushyhead.

Best Buy is also doing a tiered system with three different doorbuster events at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, then at midnight and 10 a.m. on Black Friday.

Shoppers in line will get a ticket and a guarantee to get what they're after.

Walmart points out that many of its stores are open 24 hours and are already open on Thanksgiving Day. It's also paying its employees a special holiday rate, serving them Thanksgiving dinner, and giving them a 25 percent discount on a purchase.