KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - It's one of the busiest shopping days of the season and shoppers wasted no time getting to the stores and spending some cash.
The National Retail Association says about 128 million Americans are expected to shop this Black Friday and hundreds of those in Knoxville were early birds.

"I think it's fun. I think it's pretty cool, I have fun," says 13-year-old Ali Perry. She one of hundreds who waited in the cold for hours for their must have items.
Among some of the popular items, video games, Brat Dolls and DVD players
G. T. Ballance holds the 10th spot in line. He's a black friday regular and has a plan when the doors open. "I'm gonna pray and then run for dear life. I'm going to head left and go to electronics and then I'm going to come up through the mens clothes and get this cable for our tv and at that point I'll probably just stand back and watch everybody else just make a mad circle around here cause that's what happens."

Once the store, it's a mad dash for the goods. "It's crazy. A lot of people pushing, shoving," says Jessica Wellner who came to Target in Turkey Creek for Lego's and a Hannah Montana guitar.

But G. T. says he plans to throw his weight around. "I'm going to do my best as a big guy to run through and say hey can I have this and I'll try to be nice because a smiling face probably goes a long way today."

Within minutes, the lines at the registers are long as employees scan thousands of dollars of merchandise.

In just a few hours, G. T. got what he came for. "It actually went pretty smooth and pretty fast."

But he still has a few more stops to finish off his list. "Wherever the wind and the lightest crowd takes us we'll probably be there."

Retailers say they weren't sure what to expect. The National Retail Federation says this years numbers are down from the 135 million expected last year.

Did you go shopping on Black Friday? Tell us your story by posting a comment at the top of the page.