(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

VIENNA – The Grand Central Mall will celebrate the yuletide starting Friday with extended hours on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

The mall will open at 6 a.m. when the first 200 people in line at the Food Court entrance will get SWAG bags filled with deals, giveaways and a chocolate bar with a number on the wrapper, which may be redeemed for a prize.

Santa Claus will be on hand to hear the Christmas wishes from children every day through Christmas Eve.

Holiday hours will begin on Friday when the mall will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The mall most days for the next month will open at 10 a.m.

The holiday hours schedule is: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 29, Dec. 1- 6 and 8-13; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 30, Dec. 7, 14, 28, 31 and Jan. 1; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 15-23, 26-27 and 29-30; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 24. The mall will be closed Dec. 25.

After the holidays, the mall will keep the new opening time, said Joe Bell, a spokesman for the Cafaro companies of Niles, Ohio, the new owners of the mall.

“We’re going to maintain that 10 a.m. opening time,” he said.

The mall opened in 1972 on 100 Grand Central Mall Ave. in Vienna and encompasses nearly 1 million square feet of space with more than 65 retailers, restaurants and other businesses.

Cafarro, founded by William M. Cafaro in 1949, purchased the Grand Central Mall this summer. The company has developed, owned and managed more than 50 million square feet of commercial real estate in 14 states.