Word of mouth spread quickly about the free mini snowglobes Friday at JCPenney.

One woman — upon confirming the snowglobes’ boxes contained coupons for $10 off a $50 purchase — grabbed three. Moments later, she returned for two more before running back to her spot in a checkout line of about 20 people.

Lawrence’s version of Black Friday chaos was tame compared to some stories from across the country, at least by the time the sun was up and the shopping day was under way.

“No fighting, no shoving,” said Craig Pronske, store leader at JCPenney.

While JCPenney didn’t have customers pitching tents, there were “huge lines” when the store opened at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, a first-time move for the chain, Pronske said. After the initial rush, shopping stayed steady overnight, enabling employees to keep shelves tidy for Friday’s daytime crowd.

Other south Iowa Street stores were similarly busy, but not crazy Friday morning. At Michaels and Bed Bath & Beyond, shoppers filled carts to cash in on discounts that expired at noon. Any campers that might have been awaiting Thanksgiving Day doorbusters at Best Buy had been replaced with a more leisurely crowd. Downtown Lawrence was brisk, too, with parking at a premium, crowds of people on the sidewalk and many restaurants full even in mid-afternoon.

Some shoppers were making a day — or weekend — of it with family.

Mary Lynn and Carlos Blacklock of Wichita had out-of-state relatives at their home for Thanksgiving, drove to Lawrence for shopping on Friday and planned to attend the Kansas University football game Saturday.

They found good deals at World Market, as well as a surprisingly good parking spot.

“It’s a lot less crowded than I thought it would be,” Carlos Blacklock said.

Other shoppers found themselves sucked in — even though they hadn’t set out to shop.

“We got distracted by all the windows,” said Holly Garber of Lawrence. She was in the Weaver’s housewares department with friend Amanda Mayhew of Kansas City, Mo., when the two had really just intended to meet for lunch.

Nine-year-old Jack Watson of Lawrence was Christmas shopping with his family and said the adults found some good deals.

But in line at the Weaver’s gift-wrapping station, Jack admitted he was getting “sort of bored,” explaining, “We’ve come down here at least five times.”