Should we call today Black Saturday because of the sales?

Black Friday gets all of the attention for launching the holiday retail season.

But it looks like retailers are trying to get shopping momentum started early, thanks to the multiple pre-Black Friday sales advertised to get people into stores today.

"This year retailers are starting their Black Friday sales earlier than ever," according to BlackFriday.infoin a release about today's sales.

Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - is the traditional start to the holiday shopping season, thanks to multiple (and aggressive) sales across all retail sectors. In 2008, that led to 74 million people shopping on Black Friday, compared to 26 million two days later.

This year, national forecasts call for a flat holiday, revenue-wise, which has retailers on edge as they seek signs of how shoppers will spend. If spending lags, deeper - and more aggressive - discounts are likely by mid-December.

So far this month, retail spending for the week ending last Saturday rose 0.7 percent year-over-year and 7.5 percent over the previous week - showing the spending escalation as the weeks get closer to Christmas.

That data, from ShopperTrak Retail Traffic Index, came with a projection that this week's sales would continue to climb over both 2008 and last week.

But will today's sales be enough to start the frenzy?

Meijer is advertising its "Why Wait" sale, paying homage to the Black Friday tradition. Its deals spans its merchandise sectors, from grocery (3 for $5 bacon) to clothing ($6.99 toddler fleece jackets) to electronics (Philips Blu-ray player for $178, minus discounts when purchased with Disney movies). And for gift-card buyers, there's a one-day coupon for $5 off a $50 gift card purchase.

Other national-store deals out there can be found at the holiday taste fest at Sam's Club, sales at JC Penney (look for the hair salon coupon, good until 1 p.m.) and Home Depot (the mild weather may make the $1.99 box of holiday lights seem like an appealing purchase).

Here are some additional examples, all from the web site BlackFriday.net:
• Walmart, which will be having an in-store pre-Black Friday sale starting Saturday.
• Best Buy is having a HDTV sale with some of their Black Friday deals available online.
• Kohl's is having an "It's All On Sale" pre-Black Friday sale where everything in the store is on sale.

Several local events are planned for today, too, but they're not accompanied by Black Friday-related announcements. From holiday bazaars to Manchester village's holiday-themed sales, there are many options for shoppers seeking alternatives to national stores. Check out the AnnArbor.com calendar here.