It was the fourth year that the store stayed open on Thanksgiving; it will be open Christmas, too. Some stores that remained closed yesterday, including Circuit City and Best Buy, encouraged consumers to spend part of the holiday shopping online by offering special deals just for the day. Some retailers are starting sales sooner this year because they are worried that a weakening economy and high gas prices will depress holiday spending, said Britt Beemer, president of America’s Research Group, a consulting firm in Charleston, S. Sharie Williams, a nurse who lives in Manhattan, bought a 42-inch plasma television as a gift at the Kmart at Astor Place because, she said, she was daunted by the prospect of the scrum for the limited supplies of deeply discounted merchandise after Thanksgiving. Capobianco, 43, said she had decided to stock up on discounted ski and soccer equipment for her family while her husband and children were at an annual Thanksgiving Day soccer game. Schwarz was open on Thanksgiving, said Ed Schmults, the company’s chief executive, who was greeting shoppers yesterday. Read More