Hundreds seek Black Friday deals at Crossgates Mall

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Malls and stores around the Capital Region opened early for Black Friday and the official start of the holiday shopping season. Dozens lined up outside Crossgates Mall waiting for those Black Friday deals.

“You got to wake up early," William Whalen said. "It’s a lot like going fishing but in this case we’re fishing for discounts.”

“Me and my mom have always done it, ever since I was younger," Dharma Makarowsky said. "It’s just always been a thing and we dragged the boys along this year.”

They're not alone -- the National Retail Federation predicts 182 Million people are planning to shop this weekend - that's 15.7 Million more than last year, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday continuing to be the most popular days to shop.

“There’s always really good deals," Kurt Bauerschmidt said. "After this you don’t find as many good deals like starting tomorrow.” 

 Black Friday now has some competition -- with some stores beginning their holiday sales earlier in November.

“I’ve been shopping for weeks, online, in the store, everywhere," Theresa Makarowsky, said.

Still, some embrace the deals and make it part of their holiday tradition.

“We usually start with the earliest store that has the best specials so we went to Kohls first," Bauerschmidt said. "They were having a special giveaway for scratch off tickets for the first 200. Best Buy is always on the list, and then we go to Dick’s, we’ll hit Walmart at some point and maybe throw in a diner for breakfast.”