Eager shoppers waited by blocked-off aisles for Black Friday specials. As soon as they were allowed in, customers swarmed in, snapping up electronics, toys and tools.

Within minutes, the first shoppers were at the check-out and ready to move on to other stores.

It was a scene played out at department stores across Carrollton early Friday - Black Friday, the name given to the day after Thanksgiving, considered the traditional start to the Christmas shopping season.

Brandy Carden and Crystal Albright woke up at 4 a.m. Central time to drive 45 minutes from their home in East Alabama to Carrollton.

“It was pretty quick,” Albright said of her early-morning shopping. “We were here an hour before.”

As soon as the doors to the Carrollton Target store opened at 6 a.m., bargain hunters swarmed toward the electronics counter, most just yelling, “Camera!” Target had a Kodak digital camera marked down to $89 Friday.

Sean Taylor was at Target at 11 p.m. Thursday, ensuring he was first in line.

“Last year I was out at 8 at night at Best Buy for a computer,” he said. This year he camped out for a DVD player.

Brittiany Green got up at 3:30 a.m. and waited in line about 45 minutes outside Target. It was her first Black Friday, and she had been called in by family to hit the stores.

“I’m going shopping for my aunt because she’s at work,” Green said.

By Black Friday shopping standards, Dondi Baldizon slept in. She got up after 4:30 a.m. to wait in line at Target, which she said is more subdued than other stores.

“I did Wal-Mart last year,” she said. “I decided I didn’t want to fight that crowd.”

Like many other shoppers, Baldizon had gotten up early for a camera.

For some people, Black Friday shopping is both a tradition and a way to make their holiday money go farther. Dixie Kee got up at 3 a.m. to go to prepare for her shopping - appliances and presents for her grandchildren were on her list.

“You save a lot of money,” she said. “In these days and times, you have to.”

Billie Walker got up at 4 a.m. to wait in line for a portable DVD player that was on sale for half-price.

“We just came to get two things,” she said. “This is the first year that we’ve ever done this, but I’ve got a baby who wants one.”

Kee said she shops early on Black Friday “every year” and has seen some aggressive shoppers.

“They have knocked me down,” she said. “I’m talking 60- to 70-year-old women.”

To help keep shoppers calm and merchandise stocked, stores brought in extra help for Black Friday.

“Everybody on payroll’s working today,” Craig Phillips, a manager at Target, said.

Security is also something stores keep in mind.

“Anytime people get excited and you have a big crowd, it’s something to watch out for,” Phillips said. “It’s something to be aware of.”

Seasoned bargain shoppers know that getting to stores early on Black Friday is only half the battle. Many veterans had shopping strategies planned out beforehand.

Teresa Welch and her husband got up at 2:30 a.m., had breakfast, and then waited at Wal-Mart. The couple was after cameras and movies. To better their chances of getting what they wanted, they split up.

“I send him in one direction, and I go in the other,” Welch said.

For the past five or six years, Jennifer Edge has been fighting the crowds on Black Friday.

“As the kids get older I come out for electronics, the big-ticket items,” she said. This year, Edge was after a GPS.

Edge said her shopping secret is to ditch the cart.

“I’m going to leave this buddy here and maneuver through this crowd of buggies,” she said.

Her mother meets her at the front of the store later and watches her items while she goes back in for more.

By the afternoon the crowds had thinned out, but shoppers were still seeking out deals.

Angela Awalt and her daughter Virginia were at Hobby Lobby picking up Christmas decorations.

“I usually don’t come out on the Friday after Thanksgiving,” Virginia said. But with decorations 50 percent off, the Awalts couldn’t pass up the deal.

“We want to change our Christmas decorations and she’s home from college so it’s a good day to do it together,” Angela said.

Smaller stores were also benefiting from the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush.

“From now till Christmas will be very busy,” JoAnn Shadrix, manager of Victoria and Ivy, said. “We have things you can’t find in the mall.”

Shadrix said customers came in on Friday from Carroll County and outside the county. Some, she said, were gift shopping, others were just taking advantage sales to get themselves something new.

“I’ve wrapped some gifts, but a lot of people are buying for themselves,” she said.

People are also making their holiday wish lists.

“We do have some wives come in and say, ‘When my husband comes in, tell him...’” Linda Carter, a sales associate at Victoria and Ivy, said.

Even after hitting early morning sales, shoppers stayed out throughout the day.

“After lunch, we have been really busy,” Robin Gordon, a sales associate at Classy Cricket Too, said. “We expect to have a real busy day tomorrow too.”