NEW YORK >> As the run-up to holiday shopping intensifies, Target Corp. is saying its stores will open at midnight on Thanksgiving Day for the first time this year.

That’s four hours earlier than last year.

The stores will stay open for 23 hours and close at 11 p.m. Friday, November 25. Target spokeswoman Susan Kahn said the change was a response to customers’ demands.

Retailers have expanded their Black Friday hours each year recently.

The season kickoff overtook Thanksgiving Day last year, when most Sears and Kmart stores opened Thanksgiving morning for the first time. Toys R Us stores opened at 10 p.m. Many Gap Inc. stores were open. And Wal-Mart, whose supercenters already operate around the clock, opened most other stores by midnight Thanksgiving evening.

Target is based in Minneapolis.