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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Thanksgiving used to be the day when family and friends would gather around the table for a traditional turkey dinner or even gather around the television to watch football.

Now it seems Thursday is the new Black Friday. The day when hundreds of people gather around tents outside major retailers, waiting to get their hands on big bargains.

So, what is it that makes Black Friday sales oust Thanksgiving traditions?

"It's the rush," Michelle Ferris, a shopper who set up camp Wednesday evening in front of the Best Buy on Powers in Colorado Springs , said. "It's the rush of the sales and getting what you want and getting out."

Yet that rush had people rushing to stores and skipping their Thanksgiving dinner. Many stores, such as Target, Kohl's and Best Buy, opened their doors for "Black Thursday" shoppers at midnight. Some stores opened as early as 9 p.m. It is a trend shoppers are not too happy about.

"I would much rather be with my family," Lee Tapley, who got into the line at Best Buy around noon Thursday, said. "I would much rather have [the sale be] at five in the morning."

Not only were some shoppers disappointed they had to miss out on dinner with their family, others also said the early store openings made their Black Friday shopping more difficult.

"It is hard to schedule or make up a map of all the stores you want to go to because they all open at midnight," Ferris said.

For Bryn Griffin, who lined up outside Best Buy Wednesday evening, this year was her first attempt at Black Friday shopping. She said her Thanksgiving plans with family did not work out so she decided she would give shopping a try.

"We're a low income family," she said. "This is our only chance to have the privileges of buying a giant TV or game system or whatever."

Not every shopper went without their turkey dinner, however. Some family members of those in the line at Best Buy, like Tapley's relatives, brought them Thanksgiving treats to enjoy while they waited for the doors to open.