NATCHEZ — The mad dash for the best holiday bargains starts today for some local stores.

Belk opens its doors at 8 p.m. and won’t close them until 10 p.m. Friday.

Store Manager Mary Flach said Belk has been preparing for Thanksgiving shopping for a month and has hired 35 temporary employees to help out during the holiday season, bringing the store’s holiday staff up to 110 people.

All hands will be on deck for the opening tonight, Flach said, and the store will give away gift cards to the first 250 people in the store.

Belk will have four extra registers set up in the atrium and others throughout the store.

Flach said Belk will have “thousands” of boots on sale for early-bird specials for $19.99 in the atrium, as well as select fragrances 50 percent off.

A Gallerie owners Amber Rayborn and Ashley McManus Smith are gearing up for their first Black Friday at their new downtown store.

“We don’t really know what to expect since it’s our first one,” Rayborn said.

The store, which offers a variety of products, from accent furniture to home décor and jewelry, will be open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday.

A Gallerie will have drawings for discounts during the day, which will exclude art and Bourbon and Boweties jewelry.

RRUSS & Co. owner Una Knapp said the Vidalia boutique is opening at 8 a.m. Friday.

All merchandise will be 30 percent off from 8 to 10 a.m., 25 percent off from 10 a.m. to noon, 20 percent off from noon to 2 p.m. and 10 percent off until the store closes at 6 p.m.

Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year for RRUSS, Knapp said, but it sets the tone for the holiday season.

“It lets us know how busy we’re going to be throughout the holidays,” she said.

RRUSS sells women’s clothes, shoes and accessories.

The past several years, Knapp said, RRUSS has been “extremely busy” on Black Friday, leading up to the weekend before Christmas, which Knapp said is the store’s biggest shopping weekend.

Black Friday sales for Kmart are from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. starting today and again from 6 a.m. to noon Friday.

Black Friday sales at Walmart begin at 6 p.m. today.

Vidalia Walmart store manager Wayne Lewis said Walmart will have two major sales events at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. today to allow customers the opportunity to get deals even earlier.

“We think it’ll be great for those customers who don’t want to get up at 2 or 3 a.m. and bring their whole family to the store that early,” Lewis said. “We’re excited about the holiday season.”