Shoppers out early and in force

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Stores and shopping malls are busy Friday with the official start of the holiday shopping season.

Some stores didn't wait, however, starting the Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving Day.

At Cottonwood Mall on Albuquerque's West Side and Coronado Center on the east the reaction from store employees, shoppers and restaurant staff suggest it's a little slower than usual this year especially after 5 a.m.

Still some retailers told KRQE News 13 that when doors opened at midnight, shoppers were shoulder-to-shoulder to get in and get their hands on deals.

Some of the shoppers on Friday said it was too early for some stores to open on Thanksgiving.

"It takes away from everybody--and you don't want to go shopping--but you feel like if you don't go you're going to miss the deals." Natalie Pacheco said.  "It just takes away from everyone's thanksgiving and there's a lot more people I think the diehards come if you do it early in the morning."

Others told said they're glad they missed the rush of shoppers that crowded around the doors at the stroke of midnight.

"We usually end up getting up way too early, and obviously the lack of sleep has clouded our judgment," Rebecca Jennings said.  "We buy everything in the store."

Retailers count on heavy Black Friday shopping to help get the holiday shopping season started and to help them survive the rest of the year.

According to CBS News, U.S. shoppers are expected to spend about $11 billion on Black Friday shopping.

Overall sales are forecast to be up this holiday season 4 percent over last year.

While Black Friday doesn't rank as a national holiday, the line between it and Thanksgiving continues to blur.

Or may that's just the blurry-eyed shoppers returning home in darkness or at dawn after lining up to start their holiday shopping before their holiday meals had time to settle.

At Coronado Center, which opened at midnight, the mall was buzzing from the get-go although one store employee said traffic began tapering off after the first couple of hours.

A second surge of shoppers was expected around midmorning, she said.

One shopper, still dazed after arriving at 4:30 a.m., reported good deals at the major stores with more exploration of other shops still in her plans.