It's all about the after-Thanksgiving sales that start Friday.

"Black Friday," as the day has been dubbed, is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. The "black" in "Black Friday" is associated with the hope many retailers have that holiday shopping will push their revenues "into the black," giving them nice profits for the year.

Some Polk County retailers are opening their doors to customers very early Friday.

Belk, at 700 Third St., S.W., in Winter Haven, will open its doors at 5 a.m. and keep them open until 10 p.m. Normal Friday store hours are 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.

"We're anticipating a relatively good holiday season," said Dan Eggleton, the Belk store manager.

He said car navigation systems and fragrances will be popular items. Most of the people shopping Friday will be women, he said.

Eagle Ridge Mall, at 451 Eagle Ridge Drive in Lake Wales, will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, but anchor store JC Penney will be open from 4 a.m. until 11 p.m.

"The company wanted us to open at 4 a.m. to be more competitive," said James Suarez, the JC Penney store manager. "Shopping on Friday (after Thanksgiving) is a tradition. A lot of people want to be the first in line."

Suarez expects 5,000 people to visit his store.

George Long, owner of Long's Hallmark Shop at 700 Third St. S. in Winter Haven, isn't expecting thousands of people to enter his shop.

He's treating Friday like a regular shopping day with regular shopping hours, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

"Bigger stores don't have the same approach to business as I do," Long said.

He said the 18 shopping days following Thanksgiving are the most critical to many retailers.

"I don't see the importance of putting so much effort into driving people to your store on Friday (after Thanksgiving)," Long said. "I want to drive people to my store throughout the season."

The Lowe's Home Improvement store at 700 Third St., S.W., in Winter Haven will be open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. These are normal Lowe's store hours for a Friday.

Lowe's store manager Steve McPherson said Friday will be a "good day."

He expects Christmas decorations and trees, the artificial and live kind, to sell well. Tools also will be popular items.

"We're going to have a full staff," McPherson said. "We have people assigned to be in each area. We don't foresee any chaos."

The Wal-Mart Supercenter at 7450 Cypress Gardens Blvd. in Winter Haven will open its doors at 5 a.m. Store manager Curt Boyett said he expects 12,000 to 15,000 to come to the store Friday. On a typical Friday, he said he has about 5,000 customers.

Vehicle navigation systems, mp3 players and LCD flat-screen televisions are expected to be big sellers.

Boyett advises customers to be patient, courteous and cordial - even if they're tired. Some people come to the store looking like they just rolled out of bed.

"There's ladies who come here in their slippers, housecoats and coffee cups," Boyett said. "Sometimes, they'll come in with curlers in their hair."

The Target at 3570 Harden Blvd. in Lakeland will be open from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Stefanie Lurie, a Target executive team leader, said that last year, the wait to get into the store on the Friday after Thanksgiving was 45 minutes.

"It's really thrilling and exciting to be with the holiday hustle and bustle," Lurie said.

Thirty employees usually work at the Target store on a typical Friday, but this Friday, between 80 and 90 employees will be on the job.

"The most important thing for a customer to do is to be patient," Lurie said. "Some of our items are in limited quantity. Once they're sold out, they're gone."

Guitar Hero, a music video game for the PlayStation 2 video game console, is expected to sell well, Lurie said.

The Best Buy "big box" store at 4215 U.S. Highway 98 N. in Lakeland will be open Friday from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. Non-holiday Friday hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Last year, about 5,000 people came to the store on the Friday after Thanksgiving, store manager Kevin Smith said. This year, he expects only about 3,000 Friday customers.

They're mostly looking for electronic items.

"More people are making the move to get high-definition televisions," Smith said. "And navigational devices are big because men won't stop and ask for directions."

Smith has fond memories of people standing outside in line at 2 a.m. on previous "Black Fridays."

He said he once saw a man with a hibachi grill at 2 a.m., frying bacon and eggs. He saw another man sitting in the back of a truck in a lawn chair, with a big-screen television and an XBox 360 hooked up to a generator.

He said the first 200 people in line tend to be the same ones in line every year.

"It's nutty," Smith said. "It's my favorite day. It's a reward for some of the mundane days in retail."

But for those who don't want to stand in line, there's always the convenience of shopping by computer via the Internet.

Thomas Harpointner, the chief executive officer of a Web site services company in Georgia, said online shopping for the Christmas season starts after the back-to-school sales, almost two months prior to "Black Friday." Smaller and large businesses are taking advantage of online revenue opportunities by offering coupons and online deals.

Businesses can use their Web sites to drive people to the stores, Harpointner said.

"Online is doing fantastic so far," Harpointner said. "If you don't sell online, you have the potential to lose revenue."

Harpointer expects people to continue shopping online this year and avoid long lines in stores.

"Consumer confidence isn't quite as high as gas prices are," Harpointner said. "That sometimes leads people to do their shopping online."

jessica.levco@newschief.com