Soon after Austin savors its annual holiday delights, it will turn to another tradition: gobbling up its annual kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

Whether it’s Black Friday or Brown Thursday, several Austin businesses are hosting an array of deals to get shoppers out and about to start buying Christmas presents or goodies for themselves.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening at some of Austin’s retailers:

Shopko, 1209 18th Ave. NW

Shopko is forgoing its Thanksgiving morning “Beat the Rush” sale from last year, but the retailer is still getting an early beat on the Christmas shopping season.

Shopko will open at 4 p.m. Thursday — two hours earlier than last year — and will remain open overnight and not close until 11 p.m. Friday.

“It kicks off the holiday season and it keeps on rolling until Christmas eve,” said Kelli Miller, the store’s customer service and apparel manager.

More than 850 items will be featured at Shopko stores and on Shopko.com at door buster prices, and Shopko will offer customers maps to direct them to deals dispersed around the store.

Manager Pam Oster expects the annual shopping extravaganza to be much like past years, and she says electronics and toys are typically the hot items for most shoppers.

Shopko’s Austin team also expects the force to be strong with this holiday shopping season. With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” due to hit theaters on Dec. 18 (with early showings on Dec. 17), many toys and clothing items with ties to the hotly anticipated film have been big sellers already, and Oster promised deals from Thursday through Saturday.

“They can find most of their Star Wars merchandise here at Shopko,” Oster said.

Crowds are typically good at Shopko on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and Oster said the store strives to give shoppers a good experience with efficient lines.

But the deals don’t end with Thanksgiving weekend.

“Our sales, they will continue all the way through Christmas Eve,” she said, noting they’ll have more deals coming Dec. 12.

After almost 40 years in retail, Oster said it’s a day she and others at Shopko enjoy.

“I love to work Black Friday,” Pam said. “I just love to be with the customers and to talk to them and to help them out with their needs,” Pam said.

Miller agreed.

“It lives up to its hype,” Miller said. “It’s always a great experience and the customers are always great to work with. It’s always a great time and it’s a lot of fun.”

Younkers, Oak Park Mall

Austin’s Younkers will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving — an hour earlier than last year — with 600-plus door busters. The first 200 people in every store will receive a free gift card with values ranging from $5 up to $500 with a guaranteed $500 winner at every store.

“All of our door busters are going to be great offers,” manager Randy Forster said.

Door busters are good through 3 p.m. Friday and are available as supplies last.

Online door busters will be available at www.bonton.com/blackfriday starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday with free online shipping through Saturday with promo code FREESHIP.

Some door buster items will include women’s Rampage boots and jackets for $19.97, which Forster said can typically sell for $69 or more. Others include $29.97 Calvin Klein sweaters, 50 percent off Mattel and Fisher Price toys and much more.

The festive mood won’t end there. With the closure of Oak Park Mall, Younkers is seeing the children still get a chance to tell Santa Claus what they want for Christmas this year.

Santa Claus will be at Younkers from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Forster encouraged people to bring their cell phones or cameras for photos.

“Were anticipating that will be a big event,” Forster said.

Sears, 1300 18th Ave. NW, Suite H

Sears Hometown kicked off its first Thanksgiving shopping week at its new location at 1300 18th Ave. NW with Wish Wednesday yesterday, but the deals and a drive to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation are just beginning.

Sears will open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

“Wednesday and Thursday will probably be our two biggest days,” owner Cory Squier said.

The store reopens from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday before returning to normal store hours the rest of the weekend.

Wish Wednesday was held last year, but Squier and Sears are looking to expand the event.

Austin’s Sears Hometown is one of about 1,200 stores in the country and most are working on the drive. While the main Hometown office set Austin’s goal at $400, it’s already raised more than $150 and Squier would like to get closer to $800.

As for popular items, Sears typically has deals on appliances like washers and driers, along with deals on tool sets. Squier said they have some new tool sets out that he expects will be popular.

“I think it will be a successful event, especially with the new location,” Squier said.

Sears also had Veterans Day doorbusters and other sales throughout November, and various sales should continue throughout December.

Customers who donate $5 to Make-A-Wish from Nov. 19-22 or December 10-13 will receive a $10 Award Card to be used toward a future purchase; valid Dec. 3-9 or Dec. 26-31, respectively.

The store will also hold the A Very Merry Santa Sale later. Customers who donate $5 to Make-A-Wish will receive an extra 10 percent off everything storewide from December 17-24.

The Make-A-Wish drive lasts through Dec. 31.

Runnings, 1400 18th Ave. NW

Runnings is again bucking the trend of earlier Thanksgiving openings.

The farm and retail store won’t open Thursday, but it will open for Black Friday starting at 5 a.m. on Friday.

“It’s a family-run company and they’re big on us having some family holiday time,” manager Everett Hackensmith said.

Still, Hackensmith said the company is looking for a strong Black Friday weekend with many deals.

“The company as a whole is going after those three days a lot more than we have in the past,” he said.

Hackensmith said the company will have a bigger ad coming out than in past years, with many deals and hot items, one being a toy helicopter.

“Just hoping everybody stays in town and shops local in Austin,” he said.

Runnings will be open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

JoAnn, 1700 17th St. NW

JoAnn Fabrics got an early start on holiday shopping after opening from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. The store, however, will not be open on Thursday.

It will be open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Manager Linda Pownell promised many specials, and she said customers like the early open days since they don’t like the rush of Black Friday.

“Just very busy and just fun,” she said.

Deal items will include fleece for blankets, flannel, irons and much more.

Rooms and Rest, 1700 17th St. NW

Furniture store Rooms and Rest won’t be open Thanksgiving, but it will open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Black Friday.

Manager Jeff Freeburg promised many deals of 50 percent off or more, along with special floor clearance items and more sale items at www.roomsandrest.com.

“This year has definitely been picking up,” he said. “We’re definitely excited.”

Freeburg said they have many new staff members and recently remodeled, so he promised an exciting year of deals.

Though this will be Austin’s first Black Friday since Target closed just down from Rooms and Rest, Freeburg doesn’t expect it to affect his business since it’s at a busy spot in the shopping center.

Radioshack, 1702 17th St NW

Radioshack is offering a mix of electronics and prepaid phones over the holiday weekend.

Radioshack will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on thanksgiving and then from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Black Friday before returning to normal hours on Saturday.

The store, which now parters with Sprint, will have several deals on Sprint, Virgin Mobil and Boost prepaid phones. Manager Dennis Parada also said they’ll have drones, helicopters, headphones and bluetooth speakers on sale.

Parada admitted he didn’t know what to expect from this holiday season, and he wants people to keep the store in mind. While Radioshack closed many stores nationwide over the last year, Austin was one of more than 1,400 that stayed open and paired with Sprint. Radioshack is also near the former Target location, and Parada wants people to remember Radioshack and the new possibilities with its phone partnerships.

“Hopefully people remember that and remember Radioshack for all the stuff that they need,” Parada said.

Since the change, Parada said the store also remodeled to better fit its prepaid phone sales.

“It’s gone pretty well,” he said.

Walmart, 1000 18th Ave. NW

Walmart Stores says it is offering most of the same Black Friday “doorbuster” deals online and in stores for the first time and giving online shoppers an early jump on the sales.

The world’s largest retailer is heading into the holiday season with a turnaround plan after being battered by the economy and tough competition. Walmart’s U.S. CEO Greg Foran is spearheading a major overhaul of the stores that includes basics like making sure stores are cleaner and well stocked.

The busy shopping day after Thanksgiving Day known as “Black Friday” has been encroaching on the holiday in recent years. But this year Walmart Stores is giving those who would rather shop on their couch in P.J.s more access to Black Friday sales. Most — about 96 percent — of deals offered the holiday will be offered both online — started at 2:01 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning — and in stores — starting at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

That’s up from 90 percent last year.

The company will also be offering all the deals at one time, rather than spreading them out for limited times at different parts of the shopping day.

“Customers today are bombarded with different messages and different offers,” said Steve Bratspies, chief merchandising officer of Walmart U.S., at a media event at its store in Secaucus, New Jersey, on Wednesday. “We’re moving to one event to make shopping easier.”

The two-month November and December shopping period is a crucial time for retailers because it accounts on average for 20 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart offered a disappointing forecast in October, predicting revenue for the current fiscal year would be flat, down from its previous forecast for sales growth of 1 percent to 2 percent. And it said it expects profit to fall as much as 12 percent for next fiscal year as spending on e-commerce operations and higher wages squeeze the bottom line.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.