At the Target in West Mifflin yesterday, Black Friday served up the full experience -- jammed parking lot, extremely long lines, not a shopping cart in sight, plenty of annoyed shoppers -- that illustrates all the reasons many people avoid stores the day after Thanksgiving.

And inside? "No TVs, no cameras," Melissa Perhac, of Munhall, said, as she left empty-handed. She'd come with three friends to get a Nikon Coolpix digital camera, on sale for $88. "It was nuts inside."

Americans worked hard for their discounts -- lining up as early as mid-day Thursday for advertised deals. The promotions may have backfired on some retailers who didn't stock many of the items being deeply discounted, said C. Britt Beemer, chief executive officer and founder of America's Research Group in Charleston, S.C.

"I'm hearing more consumers upset this year than ever before," said Mr. Beemer. He said some stores had eight, nine or maybe 10 of the items being advertised, not nearly enough to help the dozens of people in line.

But worries about rising unemployment have kept many consumers on the sidelines, even those who still have jobs. The National Retail Federation projected holiday sales in November and December will decrease 1 percent to $437.6 billion.

Still, the season is seen as a key opportunity for retailers to try to regain momentum. Black Friday typically launches the official shopping rush, although it's generally not the biggest shopping day of the year.

Some stores didn't bother with door-buster style tactics, going instead for blanket discounts. At the Mall at Robinson, American Eagle Outfitters offered 20 percent off a customer's entire purchase, Children's Place promised 25 percent off, Eddie Bauer had 30 percent off everything and Express was giving 25 percent off. All the offers ended at noon.

By some assessments, the promotional strategies worked.

"So far, we are seeing that consumers are willing to spend a little more than what was on their intended list," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst at NPD Group Inc. in Port Washington, N.Y. "This is a big gift for retailers. It was missing from the equation last year."

Debbie Douglass, of Elliott, checked out the deals on the fifth floor at Macy's, Downtown, yesterday, but she's being extra careful this year.

"My husband has been cut to four days," she said, noting the uncertainty means she's sticking to necessities. "I'm not going to go overboard."

Her daughter-in-law, Kim Douglass of Crafton, isn't in the same situation but said all the financial turmoil has turned her into more of a bargain shopper than in the past.

None of the women interviewed at the Downtown store bothered to get up especially early yesterday, even though Macy's opened at 5 a.m.

Debbie Douglass said last year she got up early and snagged a DVD deal at a different retailer but she decided against going to Toys 'R' Us at midnight this year. She didn't think she had a good shot at getting one of the limited supplies of Zhu-Zhu pets that her niece is trying to track down.

Meanwhile, the line started at the Best Buy in Monroeville Thursday at noon. That was when Scott Hatcher of the North Side, showed up in his quest to buy a $549 Hewlett-Packard laptop computer for $197.

The savings, he said, was worth losing sleep over.

Carol Johnston, from East Liberty was in line behind him. She had arrived at 3 p.m. for the $179 netbook (which usually costs $299) and the $299 desktop computer, a $270 savings.

The line stretched out along the building, across the parking lot and into the road so that drivers making their way to the rest of the mall had to steer around the shoppers.Lines of customers greeted Ross Park Mall sales associates for the 5 a.m. holiday opening. Anyone hoping to score discount couture at the mall's upscale boutiques was disappointed. Nordstrom, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Ann Taylor Loft did not participate in Black Friday early opening.

Many customers said they knew better than to look for those retailers to join the pre-dawn hoopla.

"They never have sales. It's like when we go to the mall, [Nike Air] Jordans never go on sale," said North Side resident Malika Demus, maneuvering a cart full of Fisher-Price educational games through a crowded Toys 'R' Us aisle.

While the majority of mall stores opened at the same time, Ross Park manager Lisa Earl said midnight openings at the Disney Store, Toys 'R' Us and other stores drew more customers than mall officials anticipated.

"This is the first year that we've had stores open at midnight," she said. "When I got here this morning at five, there were lines coming in, so I think what happened is we shifted the traffic to start a little bit earlier."

"Lines are longer than I've ever seen them," said Heather Berner of the North Hills, who got caught in lines at Kohl's and Toys 'R' Us.

Sitting at Starbucks at the Mall at Robinson combing through a two-inch-thick pile of store flyers and circulars, Helen Murray and Bunny Hannan were taking an 8 a.m. "halftime" break.

The two had started their day at 4 a.m. at Target, where Ms. Hannan snagged a 40-inch LCD television for $400 -- an item she's been tracking for more than a year.

"We have a plan," said Ms. Murray, of Crafton, wearing a red plush Steelers Santa hat. "When we get to the store, everybody goes a different way."

"We wear our game faces," said Ms. Hannan, of Brentwood. "We run. It's like, 'Game on.' "

The two intended to come directly to Starbucks to cull through coupons and "lighten our load" but got distracted for more than an hour by clearance sales at stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle.

Not only were some of the discounts better than last year, said Ms. Murray, the crowds were back in force. "There's so many more people out than last year," she said. "We're like, 'Recession? Where is it?' "

For Darlene Dickinson, who woke up at 1:30 a.m. and arrived at Kohl's at 3:45 a.m., the recession was still a factor. She was aware of her budget and her limits, but she wasn't sure about the crowds around her.

"To me, yes," said the McKees Rocks resident on whether she was feeling an economic pinch, "but if you look around, it doesn't seem like it."

One place that there wasn't a line was outside the West Mifflin Walmart superstore at 4 a.m. Why? Because the doors never closed.

After a Walmart worker was fatally injured in a Black Friday stampede in Valley Stream, N.Y., last year, the retail giant rethought the strategy of opening its doors to a large, impatient crowd.

Outside the West Mifflin store, barricades blocked traffic from crossing in front where pedestrians would be going in and out. About a dozen workers in reflective yellow vests reading "Event Staff" helped direct traffic and asked shoppers to stick to specific entrances and exits. At least one police officer was on hand.

Inside, shoppers were given a map and shown which aisle held what goodie.

Once at their designated aisle, shoppers were given tickets for whichever hot item they were hoping for, beginning at midnight. While that may have reduced the general mayhem of a more traditional 5 a.m. opening, some were inevitably disappointed.

"It wasn't even 5 a.m. and they were out," said Jay Hobby, of McKeesport. He was hoping to get a computer and didn't know tickets would be distributed so early.

Even though shoppers could get tickets and shop all night, sales didn't go into effect until 5 a.m. Or at least that's what they were told. Jennifer Terleski, 36, of the South Side, was able to check out all the toys she'd bought for her five kids around 4:15 a.m.

Over at the Walmart in North Fayette, evidence of the crowd control measures was still there even after the actual crowds had disappeared.

By late morning, shoppers were wondering why near-empty sections of the store were still roped off with "Do Not Enter" signs -- and asking employees for permission to duck under the yellow ropes.

A trip to Pittsburgh for her daughter's hockey tournament may have spawned a new holiday tradition for Toronto resident Darlene Whitelock.

Ms. Whitelock decided to check out Black Friday -- even waking up at 5 a.m. to go to The Mall at Robinson -- and had amassed half a dozen large shopping bags by 7:30 a.m.

"We don't have anything like this in Canada," she said. "I love it. I would come down here even if there wasn't a tournament."

Ms. Whitelock had sent her husband out to the big box stores and planned to go to Ross Park Mall later in the day. She was particularly thrilled to be handed a $75 gift card at the end of a shopping spree at Hollister for a spend-$75-get-a-$25-gift-card promotion that she wasn't even aware of.

"It really puts you in the Christmas spirit," she said. "Everyone gets going on the holiday."

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