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Shelley Espinoza shook her head at 5 a.m. Friday as she tried to cross from the boys' clothing area of the Bryan Wal-Mart into the kitchen accessories section.
"I just wanted to get my grocery shopping done," the Bryan resident said as a flow of shoppers lugging Hannah Montana beanbag chairs, Shop-Vac cleaners and flat-screen TVs blocked her path.
She had picked perhaps the worst time of the year for routine shopping: the moment the busiest shopping day's best deals kicked in at the world's largest retailer.
The company lured customers on Black Friday by offering deep discounts storewide, including $2 DVDs and $25 microwaves. Shoppers walking in after 5 a.m. were lucky to find shopping carts, and some complained about circling the mammoth parking lot for 10 minutes looking for a parking space.
The story was similar at other local stores, though many shoppers said the hysteria was subdued compared to previous years'.
Across the country, shoppers crowded into stores for early-morning discounts. At a Wal-Mart in New York, shoppers broke down the front doors and trampled a 34-year-old employee to death. And at a Toys "R" Us in Palm Desert, Calif., an argument ended with two shoppers dead.
No such problems were reported locally.
At Best Buy in College Station, a line of about 300 people snaked around the building an hour before the store's 5 a.m. opening.
Dustin Hack, 20, had begun waiting in line with his two roommates the previous night hoping to snag a laptop for less than $400. The trio set up a love seat, sofa chair and ottoman on grass near the side of the building. They spent the night watching Constantine, reading books and eating McDonald's food.
"It's just fun," Hack said. The group decided on a whim after Thanksgiving dinner to camp out at the store.
At least a couple dozen shoppers stood in front of them. At the front of the line was David Mundaca, a 16-year-old A&M Consolidated High School junior who had been waiting since about 9 p.m. Wednesday.
He ate a Thanksgiving meal of turkey and spaghetti from a plastic container while in line. He and his family took turns waiting, though he said he slept only a couple hours total Wednesday and Thursday night.
"I'm probably going to sleep all day today," he said Friday. But, he added, not before he gets his laptop and PlayStation 3 game console.
The hot items this year at Best Buy in College Station were LCD and flat-screen TVs; gaming systems, including the Wii and PlayStation 3; and laptop computers, said Pete Campbell, the store's general manager.
"The vast majority of people [waiting in line] are looking for a good deal on a notebook computer," he said.
Campbell said he wasn't allowed to release sales figures.
Wal-Mart will release monthly sales earnings Thursday. Until then, the retail giant won't comment on its Black Friday sales, company spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman said.
As many as 128 million people will shop this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to a preliminary survey by the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association.
That's a slight decrease from the 135 million the survey found last year.
Shoppers are expected to limit holiday purchases this year, but declining gas prices and "pent-up demand" should soften the pullback, according to the group.
Dora Steeves said she had cut back her spending this year. The Fort Worth resident waited in line at Target in Bryan about 4:30 a.m., more than an hour before the store opened.
She was after a portable DVD player for $49. Her chances of getting one were good. Only about 15 people were waiting in front of her. "Usually, the lines are way longer," she said. Several people waiting in the Best Buy line said the same.
In Wal-Mart, Bryan resident Marjorie Holiday stacked her shopping cart up to her nose with a seven-piece comforter set, a sewing machine, a microwave and a vacuum cleaner.
"To a lot of people who are having a hard time, [Black Friday] is a good thing for them," she said.
Espinoza, who just wanted to buy her groceries, doesn't think so.
"I think time is worth more than the discount," she said. "This is psychotic."
She had just gotten off work from Denny's and needed to pick up a few items before she headed home to bed. When she woke up, she said, she would have to cook for her family.
She made it into the kitchen accessories section. From there, she headed to pick up the food. She was in luck. The food section of Wal-Mart was almost empty, with a customer or two wandering every other aisle.
But the checkout line awaited.
