Jessica Dyer / Albuquerque Journal – Black Friday: It just isn’t like it used to be.

No longer does the day after Thanksgiving serve as the standard launch of the holiday shopping season. More than 40 percent of Americans start gift-buying before Halloween, according to a recent National Retail Federation survey, and many retailers decked their halls weeks ago.

Black Friday also is not the end-all, be-all for deals. Yes, door-busters abound for certain items, but scintillating sales crop up for weeks on either side of Thanksgiving.

Heck, “Black Friday” isn’t really even a Friday anymore as the term has come to encompass an extended spending extravaganza that begins right after pumpkin pie and, for some, extends for days.