GREECE, N.Y. -- Shopping on Black Friday can take a lot of planning.

"I make a list of everything, the times the stores are opening,” said shopper, Jennifer Cleeton, of Greece.

However, as shoppers turn out by the thousands, the stores have been doing some planning of their own. Take JCPenney, for example.

"As soon as we know, as soon as we have the hours, we put up a sign up sheet and say 'hey team, it's here’,” said Greece Ridge Mall JCPenney store manager, Dawn Ball.

A total of 180 employees volunteer to be scheduled during the Thanksgiving holiday and all of them are getting the schedule they prefer.

"We just had to figure out what department,” Ball said. “So this person can work untill then, and they mainly work in men’s, we got to move them to women's. So I just did a jigsaw and it was kind of like, I don't know, like that puzzle piece thing."

So, managing all those schedules and all those shoppers, you bet it's a big task, but it certainly doesn't go unnoticed.

"They actually take great care of us on holidays,” said JCPenney employee, Sara Martone. “I get out of work and I come right back in in the morning, can't wait to do it again."