DALLAS — Waking up before dawn to nab the best deals the day after Thanksgiving isn't good enough anymore. For some of the best bargains on Black Friday, shoppers will have to dart straight from their turkey dinner to the nation's malls for the increasingly popular midnight openings.

After successfully testing midnight openings at a few mall locations over the last two years, some of the nation's major mall operators, including General Growth Properties Inc. and Chelsea Property Group, a division of mall developer Simon Property Group, are expanding the offerings.

Toy seller KB Toys Inc. said it will have more than 50 stores opened at midnight Nov. 24, up from nine a year ago.

Two years ago, mall developer General Growth tested the waters by having its Birmingham, Ala., center open at midnight. Last year they added three more malls and will have seven participate this year.

Chelsea had seven open at midnight last year and will expand the early opening list to 25 of its 36 U.S.-based centers, according to Chelsea spokeswoman Michele Rothstein.

"Every year seems to get earlier. ... Some retailers are saying, 'If I have people standing in the cold, I might as well have the doors open where they can shop in comfort rather than sit on the sidewalk,' " said Daniel Butler, of the National Retail Federation.

While the day after Thanksgiving officially starts the holiday shopping season, it is no longer the busiest shopping day. That honor has typically fallen to the Saturday before Christmas.

Black Friday still sets an important tone for the rest of the season — what consumers find for deals and service influences where they will shop for the rest of the season.

Retailers are looking for a strong shopping season this year. Shoppers plan to spend on average $791.10 this holiday season, up from $738.11 they said they spent a year ago, according to a survey sponsored by the National Retail Federation.

The holiday season may bring some good news to department stores, according to the poll of 7,600 consumers conducted for NRF by BIGResearch from Oct. 4-11.

Almost 62 percent of the shoppers surveyed said they plan to shop at department stores for holiday items, up from 53.1 percent in 2003.

A big boost in traffic should come from young adults: 79.1 percent of the 18-to-24 age group plan to shop at department stores for holiday merchandise, up from 72.9 percent last year and 65.9 percent in 2004.

"Department stores are likely to see a surge in sales from young customers ... " said Phil Rist, vice president of strategy for BigResearch, in a statement.

Last week, JupiterResearch, an Internet research firm, forecast that online buyers will spend on average $281 this holiday season, up from $251 a year ago.