So, let the shopping begin.

For those who have been waiting for steals and deals when it comes to gift giving, locals will not be disappointed. Many Vicksburg retailers are not only extending their store hours for Black Friday, they are opening up today.

Walmart will be open all day today, but will kick off its Black Friday sales beginning at 6 p.m. and shoppers can expect storewide savings.

“The hottest items are always the electronics,” Walmart manager James Johnson said.

An Element 39-inch Class Smart TV is selling for $125 and the HP Stream Laptops are discounted $40 and selling for $179.

In addition to electronics and gaming equipment, markdowns include toys, clothing and housewares.

And to aid shoppers in their selections, the store will be color-coded.

At the bottom of each page of in the Walmart circular, shoppers will notice a different color.

“The store will be color coded to match the paper,” Johnson said.

Belk will be open from 4 p.m. today and stay open until 1 a.m. for their $1 Million Gift Card Giveaway.

A minimum of 250 free gift cards will be given away to customers at each Belk store and gift cards will range from $5 to $1,000.

“Each store will give-away one $1,000 gift card,” local Belk store manager Tyfone Reed-Morales said.

On Black Friday, Belk will be open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. and customers will have a chance to win the $1 Million Mystery Scratch-off Giveaway.

Belk stores nationwide will participate in this event and one person will have the chance at a $1 Million gift card. Locally, 150 scratch-off cards will be given out, Reed-Morales said, and these cards will range from $15 to $250 off a purchase. Store coupons with limited exclusions will also be available throughout the event along with Doorbuster sales.

The Outlets at Vicksburg, 4000 S. Frontage Road, will have a Midnight Madness sale and select stores will open from 8 p.m. until midnight, today.

“Sales will be going on in the stores that are open,” mall manager Jerry Chambers said, and in addition to today’s event, Chambers said the Outlets at Vicksburg would be extending shopping hours on Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Hobby Lobby will open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Black Friday and everything in the store will be on sale.  Dillard’s, too, will open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Black Friday and local store manager Carolyn Dockery said sales will be huge.

“Customers can see some Black Friday deals,” Dockery said, but at the time of the interview she had no specifics since markdowns were coming in daily.

Miles Marcus, the owner of Marcus Furniture on Washington Street, said their business would open Friday during regular shopping hours, which is 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and there will be storewide sales going on in addition to Doorbuster sales.

“Everything has a sale price on it and we usually have people waiting for us in the morning,” Marcus said.

Sales will include children’s chest of drawers, cheval mirrors and free box springs for select iComfort and iComfort Hybrid mattresses.

Bob LaBarre, who is the store manager at Sound Circuit, which is located at 1307 First North St. said his store will offer Black Friday deals from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m., Friday.

“We have some really good specials,” LaBarre said, with sales including Gator Radar Detectors at $79.99, Touchscreen DVD Receiver-Bluetooth (AVH-291BT) at $159.99 and Performance Headlights, HID and LED starting at $39.99.

And to help out local brick and mortar businesses, on Saturday, Nov. 25, Small Business Saturday will be held. “This is a good program with American Express,” Marcus said. The event is sponsored by American Express in partnership with the non-profit National Trust for Historic Preservation and encourages shoppers to patronize their local small businesses.