With six less days than the normal holiday shopping season, Black Friday sales caused many to rethink Thanksgiving plans this year.

Black Friday started even earlier than normal this year.

Over the past few years, larger stores including Walmart, Target, Dillards and Macys opened earlier on Friday morning and on Thanksgiving night. This year, smaller stores followed suit and opened at 10 p.m. or earlier on Thanksgiving Day.

UND student Brett Jurcak stood in line at Walmart for an hour on Thanksgiving Day.

“I did the one hour guaranteed in-stock deal and bought a new 32-inch TV for $98,” he said.

While Black Friday is the most popular shopping day of the year enticing shoppers with blowout deals on a range of items, it causes problems for shoppers and employees alike.

Many retail workers sacrifice Thanksgiving plans to work Black Friday hours, which can be long and stressful.

Grand Forks Menards employee Zach Sadenwasser spent 12 hours at work on Black Friday dealing with shoppers. Sadenwasser noticed that roughly 75 percent of the cars in the Menards parking lot had Canadian license plates.

“It really wasn’t that bad,” he said. “It was a little slower than we thought.”

Although the shift went well for Sadenwasser, he was on the clock when a shoplifter hit his boss with her car after trying to sneak a cartful of merchandise to her car.

“Basically she waited for someone to turn their back and ran out the door,” Sadenwasser said.

His boss followed the woman into the parking lot and tried to stop the her by standing in front of her car. The woman accelerated into the employee who was not injured in the event.

This year, Black Friday brought violence to shoppers across the United States.

According to blackfridaydeathcount.com, there were 15 injuries and one death on Black Friday this year.

These instances include a Chicago woman who stabbed three shoppers while fighting over the last Xbox, and  a Las Vegas man that was shot in the leg while carrying a TV he bought.

Despite the cases of violence this past week, Black Friday presented positives, including big sales for stores during a time that makes up 20 to 40 percent of retail.

In a continuation of Black Friday shopping events, organizations spread cheer on Tuesday, making donations as part of Giving Tuesday. The United Nations Foundation and 92Y, a nonprofit organization in New York City, received donations predicted to surpass last year’s total of more than $10 million. Last year, the donations were given by more than 2,000 organizations.

Sam Wigness is the features editor and Mathew McKay is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. They can be reached at [email protected].