The traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season has become a two-day affair, with more stores opening on Thanksgiving Day.

Shoppers waited in long lines outside of a number of stores across Central Florida Thursday night. Many retailers, like the Best Buy in Orlando opened their doors on Thanksgiving.

Merchants say consumers are asking for more shopping time and when doors opened at the Orlando Fashion Square Mall Thursday, shoppers were ready to gobble up the bargains.

"Last year I came here and it was such a great experience 'cause it is not as busy and there is cash back and it’s relaxing. It's awesome," said shopper Renee Copley.

Many stores stayed open until after midnight Friday and then reopened again early Friday morning.

Macy's opened at 6 p.m. Thursday, the earliest they have ever opened up. Last year Macy's opened at 8 p.m. and the year before that was midnight.

The Melbourne Square Mall re-opened its doors at 6 a.m. Friday after being open on Thursday from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m.

A couple of years ago, it would look like a mad house but this is a new era in Black Friday, now that a lot of retailers are open on Thanksgiving Day.

A survey for Bankrate found just 28 percent of Americans plan to shop in a store on Black Friday.

That’s because a lot of shoppers took advantage of Thanksgiving Day deals and door busters.

Bankrate found that an average Black Friday shopper will spend 400 dollars today.

The National Retail Federation forecasts holiday sales will grow 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion - the highest increase since 2011.