Eudora resident Pam Wyrick is an old pro when it comes to shopping the day-after-Thanksgiving sale extravaganza.

She’s been doing it for about 12 years. The past several years her sisters, Tina Freeman, of Lawrence, and Vicky Athon, of Tonganoxie, have joined her.

“We get some shopping done, but it’s an excuse for us to get together,” Wyrick said. “It’s become a tradition.”

Along with thousands of others, the sisters hit the aisles early Friday as Lawrence stores threw open their doors before dawn for bargain hunters.

At 5 a.m., Wyrick and Freeman were near the front of a growing line of people waiting outside SuperTarget, 3201 Iowa, which was getting set to open at 6 a.m. Athon wasn’t there yet. She was running behind.

Welcome to ‘Black Friday’

On a piece of notebook paper, the sisters mapped out a game plan showing which stores they planned to visit. Target was first on the list because Wyrick had her eye on a camera there.

“I really don’t think there’s anything I need here,” Freeman said. “But that’s fine with me.”

Krysten Baker, 7, Ottawa, takes a front seat as her grandmother, Janet Humiston, Pomona, pushes her through SuperTarget, 3201 Iowa. Baker and her grandmother joined thousands of local shoppers Friday who were hunting for early holiday bargains.

While they waited for the store to open, Target employees served the customers-to-be hot chocolate and cookies.

“People probably think we’re crazy, but it’s a lot of fun for us,” Freeman said.

Welcome to “Black Friday.” For years it was considered the busiest shopping day of the year — a day when retailers exhaled a sigh of relief that the busy season was here and profitability — black ink — was in sight. In recent years, though, other parts of the holiday shopping season gained steam and took over the busiest-day title.

Now department stores, discounters and boutiques are sweetening the pot for post-Thanksgiving shoppers and luring more people.

Opening early

The smell of commerce filled the air as bargain shoppers cashed in on special deals. Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, J.C. Penney and Best Buy all opened at 6 a.m. Their parking lots were full by the time the doors opened.

When the doors swung open at Target before 6 a.m., people rushed inside; some walked, others sprinted. Most were heading to the electronics department. Others were on their way to the toy department.

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There was some pushing and shoving, but the scene was relatively calm in Lawrence compared with shopping spectacles in other cities.

In downtown Lawrence, sidewalks were crowded as shoppers went from store to store throughout the day. Friday evening, Downtown Lawrence Inc. attracted a crowd with the annual arrival of Santa Claus at Weaver’s Department Store.

Most shoppers interviewed Friday said they planned on spending about the same on gifts as they have in past years. That’s in line with national polls that found most consumers planning to spend about the same or slightly less this holiday season.

High hopes

In a Zogby International poll Nov. 17-20, the New York-based polling and market research company found 36 percent of adults said they would spend less money this year. Only 12 percent planned on spending more.

Tiwona Ogan, of Ottawa, was purchasing toys and DVDs for family Friday. She said she spends about $1,500 on family.

“But you’ve got to stop spending at some point,” Ogan said. “The money only goes so far.”

Based on early holiday sales, Target Corp. is expecting a robust holiday season, said Kent Johnson, Lawrence store manager. Sales are up from 5 percent to 6 percent, he said.

From left, Rhonda Carlisle, Baldwin, her aunt, Paula Fulkerson, St Marys, and Carlisle's mother, Glenda Rockers, Baldwin, realize they can't get a new television into their back seat. The women were shopping Friday at Wal-Mart and other Lawrence stores that opened early with holiday bargains.

“That’s very good for us,” Johnson said.

The National Retail Federation is projecting that total sales, excluding restaurant and auto sales, will increase 4.5 percent nationally for the November-December period. Last year’s gain was 5.1 percent.

Later Friday, several merchants including Toys R Us, KB Toys, and Sears reported traffic nationally was at least as good as last year. Some stores, like Toys R Us, opened their doors earlier than planned to accommodate hordes of shoppers in line before dawn.

Extra help needed

Karen Burk, a spokeswoman at Wal-Mart Stores, said it was too early to comment on business and traffic around the country. She said there “was a huge rush” at 6 a.m., however.

The world’s largest retailer drew throngs of shoppers with such deals as a $139 flat-screen 20-inch TV/DVD combination; $4.77 fondue sets; and $25 children’s bikes, she said.

During the early morning shopping rush, stores brought in extra help to assist customers and get them in and out of stores. Johnson said Target usually opens with two or three cashiers. On Friday, the store opened with 20.

Shoppers arrive early in the morning to have a chance at holiday bargains and pre-Christmas sales at SuperTarget, 3201 Iowa. The chain store and many other Lawrence retailers opened as early as 5:30 a.m. Friday for holiday shoppers.

“This is a big deal for us,” he said. “It’s one of the most fun days of the year.”

Some shoppers weren’t out to buy holiday gifts.

Tonya Wahl, of McLouth, went to Sears to buy a television because her family’s set broke Thursday.

She purchased a 27-inch model that was on sale and got an additional $10 off because the store handed out gift cards to the first 200 customers.

“It was pretty good,” she said.

Some disappointments

Others weren’t so fortunate. Jackie Hout, of Lawrence, left Best Buy disappointed. She said she had planned to purchase a computer from the retail store, which specializes in electronics and large kitchen appliances. But Hout discovered that people were given tickets for certain items, including the computer she wanted.

“I wish I had known that,” Hout said, leaving the store empty-handed. Others, however, lucked out.

Ron Wulfkuhle, of Omaha, Neb., managed to secure a ticket to purchase a portable DVD player at Best Buy. Wulfkuhle, who brought his family to spend Thanksgiving with his parents in Lecompton, said the store had 18 portable DVD players in stock. Wulfkuhle got ticket number 17.

“If I had been number 19, it would have been a bad trip for me,” he said later, outside of Hastings, 1900 W. 23.

Wulfkuhle met up with his wife, Margie, and stepdaughter, Rachel Whitwer, at Hastings at about 7:15 a.m. Whitwer, 19, had waited outside the store since about 6 a.m. with a plan to purchase a DVD player for her boyfriend. She and her mother were the only ones outside the store, but Rachel said other people were there earlier.

Buying the tree

“They left,” Whitwer said. “There were about 10 people and they were all here to get a Nintendo DS.”

A Hastings employee came out and informed the people that they sold their last Nintendo DS, which is a new portable game system, on Wednesday and didn’t have any available.

“People were mad,” Whitwer said.

While some were out buying electronics and toys, Marty Pylatt, of Eudora, had something else in mind. His wife, Laura, woke him up Friday morning and asked him to go to Target for her because she was sick. But she gave him specific directions.

Pylatt needed to purchase a 7-foot slim, pre-lighted Christmas tree, which was on sale.

“We’re running out of space at home,” he said.