The nation's economic woes injected the traditional Black Friday shopping party at strip centers and malls with a heavy dose of frugality yesterday as consumers aggressively went after the deals they wanted and then moved on.

In the Pittsburgh area, people were seen swearing at each other over parking spots at the Tanger Outlet center in South Strabane around midnight, sharing tents to stay warm in the wee hours outside the Best Buy in Monroeville, and sending a check-out line ballooning above 100 people at a Kohl's in Robinson by mid-morning.

But relative calm appeared to reign at stores that didn't heavily promote doorbusters, and stores didn't seem much busier than the average Saturday.

The pressure was on many retailers to make the most of the annual post-Thanksgiving shopping surge that may not produce the biggest retail day of the year but does mark the unofficial launch of the holiday gift-buying season. The name Black Friday refers to the fact that historically some retailers started turning a profit around this time.

A housing slump, a credit crunch and the general economic downturn have kept consumers home for months and a number of organizations have forecast a spending pullback for the key holiday months. The National Retail Federation is predicting holiday sales will rise 2.2 percent this year to $470.4 billion, a number that would mark the slowest growth since 2002.

One retail consultant said patterns seen in the last couple of days have shown that shoppers are sticking firmly to their plans. "They knew what they wanted to buy and if it was gone, so were they," said C. Britt Beemer, chief executive officer and founder of America's Research Group in Charleston, S.C.

His company's research found 20 percent fewer shoppers out Thursday evening than last year, and he predicted store traffic yesterday might manage to equal that of the previous year but would be hard-pressed to beat it.

In Monroeville, shoppers were well aware of the economy and what their spending meant -- both to them and the nation.

Caroline O'Connor, of Irwin, and her sister-in-law, Kelli Prucnal, yesterday had carts filled with marshmallow blasters, digital video recorders for children, a guitar and even a digital camera to fit on a pet collar so they could see what their pet was seeing. And it wasn't even 4:30 a.m. yet.

"The economy is a concern," Ms. O'Connor said. "We're cutting back. It's the right thing to do."

Ms. Prucnal's mother had helped the two women plan their strategy, taking newspaper circulars on Thanksgiving and organizing them into piles by types and locations of stores.

At the same time, Ms. Prucnal said spending helps keep people employed, something painfully apparent at Monroeville Mall where an empty Boscov's department store, closed this fall after the Reading chain filed for bankruptcy reorganization, still had posters in the windows.

Sidnei Diggs, 40, of East Liberty, did not divulge the contents of the big bag she carried out of KB Toys but she did say everything was on sale and -- it was a really big bag -- cost less than $80.

Ms. Diggs, who has four sons ranging in age from 7 to 20, has been lucky that, unlike so many people, she has a job. Still, rising prices from gasoline to groceries have hurt. When one of her boys needs a pair of sneakers, they have to wait.

For most of her life, she paid everything she owed on time. Now, she is starting with the necessary bills, like gas, electricity and rent.

She felt she did have to get some things for Christmas. "The 7-year-old is really excited."

Brandi Nicola, of Uniontown, had just spent the evening before talking with her fiance about how much to spend on Christmas gifts this year. He lost his job not long ago and, although she expects him to find something soon, it seemed like a time for caution.

She and her mother, Michelle Nicola of Hopwood, got up early to drive to Ross Park Mall yesterday. They wanted to see the new stores there and visit the Macy's, which they said was one of the biggest in the area.

Arriving just after the mall's 5 a.m. opening, they saw people already coming out of Macy's with huge bags of merchandise. But they still managed to score what they really wanted. "The parking space was the deal of the day," said Michelle Nicola as she took a break on a couch near the new Nordstrom.

Parking caused headaches for those out at midnight to catch the sales at Tanger Outlets. Traffic on Interstate 79 approaching the shopping center backed up more than a mile with shoppers looking for bargains. Drivers had to wait 30 minutes just to get to the parking lot.

The atmosphere was festive inside the open-air shopping center but less so in the jammed parking lot where tempers flared and horns sounded. Several desperate drivers deployed human shields trying to save a parking space when someone left a spot, which prompted a few showdowns.

Looking at the mass of cars, a beleaguered traffic cop sighed. "It's gonna be a long night," he said.

More than 400 customers went through the doors at the Wal-Mart at Waterworks Mall in the first five minutes after the discount store opened at 5 a.m. A department manager at the door counseled, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're gonna get in there."

At the very front of the line was Chris Branchen, an Avonworth area resident who goes to school in Cleveland. He had been in line since 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night in hopes of picking up a 42-inch LCD TV "and a stand, but I hear they're going quick."

He was back through the checkout within minutes of opening. The TV cost him $598 before taxes.

East End resident Lydia Morris, her husband and two of their four children were there for "electronic games, clothes, anything we can find that's on sale so we can have a Christmas this year." Ms. Morris's husband is disabled but she works as a receptionist at the Children's Home of Pittsburgh.

Rick and Melinda Ricci, of Blawnox, are pinching their pennies, too. "Gas prices, food prices -- when you have four kids, everything adds up." They were hoping to get a Leap Frog Leapster handheld learning video game system for about half price.

Wal-Mart has been among the best-performing retailers as the economy has slumped. That makes sense to store manager Tim Rodriguez, of Bentleyville, who has been with the chain for 18 Black Fridays but just moved to the Waterworks store two months ago.

"I really think with the economy nowadays and the prices Wal-Mart is able to offer our customers, this is gonna be a bigger-than-ever year," he said, adding, "[Our people said] we haven't had the line wrap around like that in years, so hopefully that's a good sign of things to come."

At Macy's Downtown, the setting was perfect for an early-morning shopping rush. By quarter to five, the bright, mechanized Christmas displays were already up and running, and whimsical holiday music floated through the chilly dawn air.

But there was no one, save one groggy reporter, lined up to get in as the doors opened. Customers began to trickle five minutes later, but it was far from the stampedes of frantic customers seen elsewhere.

Bertha Smith, a beauty consultant with Prescriptives, said she worked Black Friday two years ago and remembers there were lines.

She had a simple explanation for the lack of crowds. "[We're] not giving away any special gifts this time. Anytime they hear 'free,' you know they will come," she said.

By quarter past five, Carla Taylor, who works for Duquesne Light, was perusing the jewelry with her 9-year-old daughter Mikayla. She knows her retirement plan has taken a hit with the tumbling stock market but she hasn't changed her spending habits much. She's always been a tightwad spender who buys things on sale.

Her plan this season is to donate more to charity because she knows others have taken a crippling hit in this economy. "I feel I need to give back more," she said.

By 10:15 a.m., the Kohl's in Robinson hadn't seen much fall off from the madness of its early morning crowd. Lured by signs promising a $10 gift card for purchases of $50 and half-price deals on popular toys and celebrity clothing lines, shoppers packed the store.

Lines snaked through to the back, creating traffic jams for those trying to maneuver shopping carts around.

Carrie Amoroso, of McDonald, stood with her virtually empty cart at the back of a line roughly 130 people long. She and her sister had decided they would switch off shopping and holding a place in line. "We heard that it's a 45-minute wait," she said. "We have so much more to do today."

Meanwhile, longtime Black Friday shoppers reported the Mall at Robinson seemed less crowded than in previous years. Indeed, for most of the morning, the longest line was at Starbucks, with shoppers fueling up to get through the day.

Lori Chaffin considers it her annual mission to complete all of her Christmas shopping during a 12-hour span on Black Friday. Still, this year would be a little different. Her credit cards were "maxed out," she said, "so it's cash today."

She and her daughter, Whitney, got a parking space in front of the mall at about 8 a.m. and said the scene inside didn't seem too hectic. Ms. Chaffin, of East Liverpool, Ohio, speculated the economic downturn was keeping shoppers away. "They still don't know what to expect, so they're holding off a little longer," she said.

"Everybody's waiting for the bigger sales," chimed in Dave Vahalik, of Amsterdam, Ohio, who was sharing a bench with Ms. Chaffin.

Bill Eckles of Follansbee, W.Va., was, taking his maiden voyage into a Black Friday, serving mainly as the driver for his wife. "I thought it'd be busier than it is," he said. "This is not much more than just a normal day."

Not everyone is buying into the general atmosphere of economic fear.

"You can't listen to the media," said Lisa, a North Hills real estate agent who declined to give her last name as she shopped with friends at Ross Park Mall. She was aware of the nation's financial issues -- "My 401k is now a 201k," she joked -- but believes things will cycle back.

Meanwhile, Lloyd Wennlund and his daughter, Marcey, were guarding a pile of shopping bags on a bench in the middle of the mall as his wife searched for bargains at a nearby store. The family lives in Naperville, Ill., but spends the holidays with relatives in the Pittsburgh area.

Mr. Wennlund, an asset manager, has seen the value lost to the nation's financial instability. He predicted the cycle will begin to turn around toward the end of next year, especially if housing prices stabilize.

For now, he said his family hasn't been cutting back much. "My wife's a power shopper," he said with a smile.