Is Black Thursday worth sacrificing turkey, family?

Get pumped! Unless you work in retail or handle emergencies for a living (aren't they one and the same?), you get the day off Thursday.

Forget feeding the homeless. Who has time with Kmart flinging open its doors at 6 a.m. to peddle small appliances for less than $5?

The Eagles vs. Cowboys game? Not when Best Buy opens at 5 p.m. with an iPad Air 2 for less than $400.

And the Burger King drive-thru is looking mighty tempting for dinner, since Walmart unleashes its mega deals starting at 6 p.m., including a $400 Playstation 4 with a free $50 Walmart gift card.

All hail Black Thursday (also known as Thanksgiving).

"Do not wait until Black Friday to shop," admonishes Mark LoCastro, a spokesman for deals website DealNews. "You may have missed the deal you want."

Thanksgiving is the day to score the highest percentage of top deals across all categories – seven times more "editor's choice" deals than the average day – according to DealNews research compiled over the last several years. Cyber Monday ranked second. Black Friday came in third.

Some of the best finds are technology doorbusters with limited supply. These include Target's Element 40-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for $119 and Best Buy's Panasonic 50-inch 1080p LED LCD HDTV for $200.

Best Buy also has a 16-gigabyte iPhone 6 for $100 with contract from a major carrier and a Best Buy smartphone trade-in gift card. Staples, which opens at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving, offers a starter laptop in-store for under $100.

The thing about surveys is that, depending on how you slice the data, you get conflicting reports.

For instance, a Wall Street Journal analyisis of retail pricing data last year found that the biggest price drops occurred the weekend before Thanksgiving.

And price tracking firm ShopAdvisor found that Dec. 18 offered the lowest across-the-board prices in-store and online. Bursting Black Friday's bubble, ShopAdvisor found that average savings on 6,000 popular items on Black Friday last year was a mere 1 percent to 2 percent. Deeper discounts appeared during the four weeks leading up to Black Friday.

"What is now clear, if it wasn't already, is that Black Friday is more about sport than savings," ShopAdvisor CEO Scott Cooper said in a statement.

One thing is certain: Stores are opening much earlier compared to 2007, when the average open time was 5:16 a.m. on Black Friday. This year, the average major retailer will open at 5:43 p.m. on Thanksgiving, according to deals site Brad's Deals.

Best Buy, Toys R Us and JCPenney will all open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving this year, while Macy's, Kohl's and Sears will open at 6 p.m.

Walmart recently announced it would spread Black Friday deals over five days.

But don't declare Black Friday irrelevant just yet.

A higher percentage of consumers – two-thirds – say they plan to shop Black Friday this year, according to a recent study by management consultancy Accenture. Forty-seven percent plan to shop in-store between 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and 5 a.m. on Black Friday.

And with more discretionary income and greater job security (real or imagined), consumers will spend more, according to retail industry estimates.

The average person is estimated to spend about $804 during the holiday season this year, a nearly 5 percent increase over last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Total holiday sales are expected to grow by 4 percent to $617 billion. Gift cards continue to be the most requested gifts.

Last year, Christiana, Concord and Dover malls, and Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth reported peak shopping times that corresponded to stores' Thanksgiving night openings and again at 7 a.m. on Black Friday.

So, there's how people actually behave. And then there's lip service.

More than 60 percent of Americans reportedly dislike stores opening on Thanksgiving, with only 12 percent supporting the practice, according to a survey by shopping site RichRelevance.

As of last week, the "Boycott Black Thursday" Facebook page had more than 95,000 likes, including Fry's Electronics and Lowe's (both chains are closed on Thanksgiving). Other retailers, like T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, are trumpeting their "associate-friendly" policies, which were basically the norm three years ago, and publicly shaming others.

RadioShack initially announced it would be open all day Thanksgiving. But the struggling electronics chain backpedaled recently, explaining it would close stores in the afternoon to allow employees time with their loved ones. Reality check: A five-hour break does not qualify as a holiday.

Colette Gaiter, an associate art professor at the University of Delaware, who refuses to shop on Thanksgiving, might peek online on Cyber Monday. Gaiter is a planner, shopping year-round for gifts.

"My least favorite shopping experience is the mall," she says.

Others can avoid the knife-fighting and cart blockades by simply toting their smartphones to the dinner table – a new Thanksgiving tradition.

"There's absolutely no need to go to a physical store to get a deal," says LoCastro.

Follow TrenDE on Twitter @MargieTrenDE and on Facebook at facebook.com/margietrende. Email mfishman@delawareonline.com.

BLACK THURSDAY/FRIDAY SHOPPING TIPS

As if you were shopping around for the lowest airfare, it's important to set up price alerts and track products a full month in advance to snag the best deals for the holidays, LoCastro says.

The free RedLaser app lets you scan bar codes to find the best price online and in stores. CamelCamelCamel notifies you when prices drop on Amazon for items on your shopping list. The Walmart Savings Catcher app lets you upload your Walmart receipt and get reimbursed for any price difference in the form of a gift card.

Remember that retailers intentionally carry a limited supply of doorbuster deals to encourage you to make impulse purchases once you're already there. Don't fall for it.

Shop with the right gear: Foldable tote bag, crossbody purse, water jug, comfy clogs and a jacket with interior pockets to stow cash and credit cards. Create a shopping list (and budget), shopping by product category to avoid doubling back at the store.

Limit your geographic area to avoid parking headaches. The Beat the Traffic app provides real-time updates on traffic, accidents and congestion.

Forgo the fitting room. You can always return it after the madness.

For a complete list of store hours, visit www.offers.com/blog/post/black-friday-thanksgiving-store-hours.