Along with getting a taste of the traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, holiday shoppers can also get an early taste of Black Friday shopping. Several retailers with stores in the southwest suburbs will be open to customers Thursday, and some won't close their doors until late Friday. The National Retail Federation expects that nearly 136 million people could be out shopping over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, up about 2 million from last year. While Black Friday has long been viewed as the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season, retailers have been pushing that threshold back, which has ... (full story)