Hamilton shops will jump the gun tonight on Black Friday and stay open late.

Gibbons Company and Sports ‘R’ Us will both open longer with discounts designed to attract shoppers.

Stores traditionally open earlier than usual on Black Friday and hold “doorbuster” sales.

But some retailers have extended the bargain-shopping event into the previous day.

Darren Mayeaux, manager at Sports ‘R’ Us, said the store would open at its regular time tomorrow but had decided to stay open until midnight tonight to give customers an alternative to early-morning shopping.

He said: “The challenge is that if everyone is open on Friday morning, then you can only go to so many places before you have to get ready for work yourself. We wanted to do something the night before, where you can come in until midnight and then go to the Black Friday sales at other stores in the morning if you want to.

“That’s our main goal. Give people a longer period of time to do Black Friday.”

Mr Mayeaux added that the sale would continue over the weekend, although supplies of some items may be limited.

Gibbons Home Store will remain open until midnight tonight and the main store will welcome shoppers until 10pm.

Both Gibbons branches will also open early tomorrow.

Other retailers taking part in Black Friday include pharmacist and toy store Phoenix, electronics stores P-Tech and iClick and department store Brown & Co.