After a brief warning the doors opened at 5 a.m. to hundreds of shoppers lined up outside Best Buy in North Fresno. "Black Friday is just another time to get a deal," Fresno's Chris Remirez said.
Miller was first in line at the River Park Best Buy. "This is it for us. This is where you get all the goods," said Kim Miller from Fresno.
"It's all the camping. The tent, the blankets, everything," she said about how she fought off the cold after spending Wednesday evening through Friday morning.
The National Retail Federation (N.R.F.) is predicting that 138 million people will be out on this Black Friday. That's four million more than last year. A lot of people we spoke with said they planned on spending more than in years past.
According to an exclusive Action News poll conducted by Survey U.S.A. 13% of respondents said they would spend more money on holiday gifts this year. 48% said they would spend less. And 37% said they would spend about the same.
"I think we saved more than $1,000. Yeah. I think so," Kerman's Christy Chen said.
Remirez added, "I try to keep it within a budget and try not to go over it."
"We actually set aside money all year long for this event," Miller said.
When the clock struck midnight, the doors opened at the Preferred Outlets at Tulare. Amy Whittington and her husband drove up from Bakersfield and were among the first to snatch up bargains. "We've never been shopping on black Friday. And it sounded like something fun to do so we got a babysitter for our son and we came up."
Managers at Kohl's in River Park capitalized on the crowds by opening the doors at three.
Target opened theirs one hour later.
Sunday the N.R.F. will reveal whether this Black Friday lived up to the financial hype.
