Karen Hall, left, and her daughter Bethany, 11, shop for clothes at Old Navy on Thursday. Hall said that most of their shopping was being done for the angel tree at Bethany's school. Shoppers browsed through the Old Navy store near Shallowford Road on Thanksgiving.Jason Hart will tell you he doesn't shop Black Friday, but talk to him for a bit and you'll learn he loves the deals.
He's not the shopper, he'll say, it's his wife. She goes out every year with her family to take part in the annual retail ritual and shops all day. He only grabs one, maybe two items when their sale prices are too good to pass up.
"I'll go for one item and that's what I get," he said.
His wife Autumn agreed.
"I go have fun with my mom and my sister," she said. "He's more deal-oriented."
Either way you slice it, both are drawn to shop on what has been the busiest shopping day for the past seven years.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, 81 million people over the age of 15 will be out shopping today. That's about 34 percent of consumers, up from 31 percent last year and 26 percent the year before.
"It's worth the lost sleep, for sure," said Black Friday deal hunter Diana Cruz.
For the past 10 years she's rolled out of bed before the crack of dawn, not to get her Christmas shopping done, but to search out discounts for her kids' winter wardrobes.
"Quite a few people that are going to be out shopping on Black Friday are looking for bargains, not necessarily the holiday gifts," said Jesse Tron of the International Council of Shopping Centers. "They're responding to the promotions. It's not necessarily 'This is the best day for me to buy gifts,' it's the best day to see what deals exist and take advantage of those bargains."
But Aaron Althouse, who prefers sleep to shopping, isn't convinced that today will live up to the hype. The deals certainly aren't enough to get him up before the sun.
"It's definitely not worth it," he said. "People are misled."
The discounts are deep, he said, but the sales often last through the entire holiday season, he said.
And some years he may be right, according to Tron.
"It really depends on how the season goes. You may be able to get the best deal on Black Friday. It's very possible. If sales are strong on Black Friday, you're probably not going to have quite the same types of bargains going along," he said. "It's kind of a game of chicken."
That line can be difficult for retailers to walk. No store wants to discount items too deep and cut into its profits, but in some cases it can be even worse to have stock left over into the new year.
But several retailers said the shopping season is getting longer every year, offering more time to sell. Most see some customers start Christmas shopping as early as December, but that doesn't make tomorrow any less important.
"We've been running for a while now for the holidays, and it's just a really significant time period," said Tom Aiello, division vice president of Sears. "You're running a 10 mile race, this is mile three or four and this is a big hill."
A big hill indeed -- about 152 million shoppers will swarm stores between Thanksgiving and the end of the weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. Those shoppers are expected to buy mostly clothes and accessories, followed by books, music, movies and video games, then toys.
DeAnna Roberts will be one of the toy shoppers. Her son Rily turned six this month, so she's been spending plenty on presents and plans to spend more tomorrow.
"I've got my list of what I need to get," she said. "I'm just looking for good deals."