Black Friday shopping madness may kick off earlier this year in the suburbs, with the owner of four large malls along the Route 128 corridor weighing plans to open just after midnight the day after Thanksgiving.

Northshore Mall in Peabody, the Burlington Mall, the Mall at Chestnut Hill in Newton, and South Shore Plaza in Braintree may open their doors at 12:01 a.m. as Simon Property Group considers shifting to earlier Black Friday openings across the country, according to Lisa Bell, a local Simon spokeswoman from Regan Communications. Last year, the four local malls opened at 4 a.m.