The break between America's easygoing day of thanks and the next morning's jolt into the holiday shopping season is getting shorter.

Several stores in the Roanoke Valley will open their doors at least an hour earlier on Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving and one of the busiest gift-buying days.

On Friday, Valley View Mall will open at 5 a.m., and J.C. Penney will open its stores nationwide at 4 a.m. The department store's opening time is one of the earliest across the Roanoke Valley, except for those stores that already operate 24 hours a day.

A local Starbucks will entice caffeine-craving shoppers before the crack of dawn, with the one on Colonial Avenue opening at 4 a.m. Friday.

Black Friday originally got its name because it's the day that stores traditionally expect to move into the black, or make a profit. Before the sun rises Friday, stores will wave door-buster sales and other heavy discounts in front of shoppers, forcing long lines, crowded malls and chaos mixed with excitement.

The Roanoke Valley is far from the only city where retailers are opting for earlier-than-usual kickoffs to Black Friday. Nationally, it's happening on a much larger scale.

Some outlet malls across the country began hosting midnight madness events last year, and many will have them again. For these events, stores open when the clock strikes midnight and offer food and entertainment.

All of the 38 premium outlets that are part of Chelsea Property Group will host midnight madness shindigs Friday. That includes the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets in Leesburg, Va. The number of outlets participating is up from 26 last year, said Michele Rothstein, a spokeswoman for Chelsea Property Group.

Closer to Roanoke, Four Seasons Towne Centre in Greensboro, N.C., for the second year will host a 1 a.m. Rockin' Shoppin' Eve event on Friday. Last year, 12,000 to 15,000 people gathered at the mall for sales and entertainment from 1 to 5 a.m., said Nicole Steele, a marketing manager for Four Seasons.

"We were just amazed at the number of people that were here," she said.

More stores will participate in Rockin' Shoppin' Eve this year. Last year 75 mall retailers opened at 1 a.m. This year, 105 will participate out of 156, Steele said.

"A lot of our retailers said they made their day [in sales] before their sister stores in other malls ... even opened," Steele said.

Wal-Mart even is trying to drive shoppers to its Web site on Thanksgiving Day. The retailer announced this week that it will make Black Friday promotions available to customers online on Thursday.

In Roanoke, Valley View is kicking off Black Friday earlier because other mall retailers are doing it.

The mall has pushed up its opening by an hour to match its anchor stores' hours, including Belk and Sears, which both will open at 5 a.m., said Kendall Hurt, assistant general manager at Valley View.

"We feel our stores will benefit from opening an hour earlier if the department stores are opening an hour earlier," she said.

Kate Parkerhouse, a spokeswoman for Texas-based J.C. Penney said the retailer's 4 a.m. debut is scheduled because "we know our customers will show up as early as we open. ... They were lined up at 4 a.m. last year."

Of course, retailers count on many other days besides the one after Thanksgiving to provide economic cheer. The weekend coming up accounts for 10 percent of total holiday sales, said Erin Hershkowitz, a spokeswoman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. Holiday sales represent 25 percent to 40 percent of retailers' annual sales.

The day after Thanksgiving also isn't always the largest shopping day of the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation, which says the Saturday before Christmas sometimes holds that distinction.

Still, the earlier openings, including ones at midnight, "help drive sales during the hours when there aren't typically any sales," Hershkowitz said.

According to a survey by the NRF, 1 in 4 people shopped at 5 a.m. or earlier on Black Friday last year.

Despite some earlier store openings, at least one retailer with a Roanoke location will close an hour earlier on Black Friday. Electronics retailer Best Buy plans to shut its doors nationwide at 10 p.m. rather than 11 p.m.

The new hours in place are based "on customer and traffic demands and pattern flows at the stores," said Pete Capuano, services manager at Best Buy's Roanoke store.

And a spokesman for Best Buy, Brian Lucas, said the company wants to be able to "get people home at a reasonable time to get some sleep."

"It's a long day," he said.

Still, Best Buy will open at 5 a.m. on Black Friday, the same time as last year. The retailer wouldn't consider opening any earlier, Lucas said.

"We feel it's the right thing to do for our employees, to give them a day at home with their families," he said. "We don't close often."