McClatchy Washington Bureau

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Black Thursday is replacing Black Friday among national retailers hoping to get a jump on holiday shopping, but local merchants say it doesn’t make sense for them to open early on Thanksgiving Day and try to compete with the big-box stores.

“We find that the big rush at Thanksgiving and Black Friday is not for appliances,” said Gabe Hedges, assistant manager at Idler’s Appliances, which has stores in San Luis Obispo, Atascadero and Paso Robles.

MacSuperstore in San Luis Obispo will take Thursday off. But in order to recoup some of the shopping excitement that Black Friday creates, the Apple products shop began offering discounts in advance of the holiday.

“We started a seven-day sale on Nov. 18 leading up to Black Friday,” said Josh Ernstrom, MacSuperstore’s customer experience manager. That way, Ernstrom said, employees can spend Thanksgiving at home with their families, and the store didn’t have to miss out on any sales.

At Beverly’s Fabric and Crafts in downtown San Luis Obispo, employees are gearing up for a busy holiday shopping season — but it won’t begin until Friday. “We will be closed for Thanksgiving,” said manager Tamara Bailie. “We’ve never been open on Thanksgiving. That’s a time for family. We will open about 30 minutes early on Friday, though.”

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