Christa Jordan does lots of her shopping online to avoid the holiday rush. Even so, Black Friday shopping in Macon with her mother, Mable Jordan, is a decade-long tradition.

This year, the Roberta women were at it by 3:30 a.m.

Before they emerged from Target in Presidential Plaza with a cartload of personal items and gifts for Christa Jordan’s nephew, they’d already hit Macon Mall and The Shoppes at River Crossing.

“We do a little more driving than we used to,” Christa Jordan said.

Even after four hours of shopping, they planned to join the crowds at three or four more stores -- despite not finding any particularly good deals on items they were looking for, she said.

“Honestly, nothing we probably couldn’t have gotten any other day,” Christa Jordan said, laughing.

But many others, in pursuit of bargains on televisions, video game systems and other electronic goods, were waiting outside Target when the store opened at midnight.

“We actually had a line that went down to Dick’s Sporting Goods,” stretching most of the length of the strip mall, said Lauren Barnett, Target’s manager. Police were on hand for crowd control -- a city police or Bibb sheriff’s car was parked at several major stores Friday morning -- and it took only 35 minutes to get Target’s early shoppers inside the store, Barnett said.

After that, business was steady throughout the day, raising hopes that this holiday season will be better than 2010, she said. Clothing is also selling well, and Target is offering a “25 days of toys” special, but electronics and small appliances seemed to be the biggest draw, Barnett said.

There was trouble elsewhere in the country: a couple of shootings, and a woman apparently after video games pepper-spraying 20 fellow shoppers at a California Wal-Mart. But in Middle Georgia, the swelling crowds were generally peaceful.

Rick McAllister, president of the Georgia Retail Association, predicts that stores in the state may see 2.5 to 3 percent growth over last year’s sales. But many stores are holding little inventory, so shoppers would be wise to snap up bargains quickly, he said.

Cole Hickman and his girlfriend Sarah Wrye chose to drive about 35 miles south to Macon instead of 50 miles north to Atlanta.

“We figured it wouldn’t be as packed as Atlanta,” he said.

They left home in Barnesville at about 5 a.m., and were back by 10 a.m., Hickman said. Their first stop was Bass Pro Shops, but the early morning crush at the registers was too much, he said.

“You probably had a two-hour wait to check out,” Hickman said.

This year’s crowds seemed heavier than last year’s, and there seemed to be more bargains, too, Hickman said.

The pair bought gifts for four relatives, saving $60 at Kohl’s and buying some chairs for half-price, he said.

Bruce Henderson, general manager of Bass Pro Shops, said he was hoping for a big opening when he arrived for work. When he unlocked the doors at 6 a.m., he got it.

“It was our typical Black Friday crowd, but particularly early on, it was as big as I’ve ever seen it,” Henderson said. “We had in excess of 1,000 when we opened the doors that were standing in line.” That was more than were on hand for the store’s grand opening, he said.

A half-price smoker, dog bed deal and clothing sales drove in most of the crowd, but people bought much more than those specials, Henderson said.

Though employees eventually got the crowd flowing, every register in the store was still open early Friday afternoon to handle the volume, he said.

“It’s busy, but calm,” Henderson said. At that rate, Bass Pro Shops was on track to beat last year’s sales, he said.

The store will switch gears from Friday’s “hard-core shopping” to a traditional holiday posture on Saturday, offering free pictures with Santa Claus starting at 8 a.m., Henderson said.

In Warner Robins, vehicles crowded around the big-box stores on Watson Boulevard. There, Amanda Teal usually budgets $1,000 for the day’s shopping spree, but recent truck repairs made her opt for credit cards this year.

“Don’t you know, a woman will always find a way to shop?” her aunt Debra Mimbs joked.

The two turned away from Wal-Mart on Booth Road on Thursday evening. The store opened at 10 that night, but vehicles overflowed the parking lot onto the grass, Teal said. So she and Mimbs waited until 8:30 a.m., heading first to Best Buy, where they found their best buy: a 42-inch plasma TV for $200. Then they headed to Wal-Mart for Christmas toys.

Jane Williams was also lax about the sale of the year. She was shopping for clothes at The Galleria mall in Centerville about 1 p.m.

“I rolled over at 11 (a.m.), after a great turkey dinner. I strolled in here, and I got a $15 sweater from JCPenney,” she said.

Williams should be able to shop at leisure, since many stores are extending their sales beyond Black Friday and through the weekend.

At Best Buy in Macon’s Presidential Plaza, Sandy Dillard and Kris Stevens -- a pair of friends from Eatonton -- were among a steady stream of shoppers Friday morning.

“This is our annual friendship holiday shopping spree,” Dillard said.

The store opened at midnight, but there were still plenty of bargains when they hit the checkout at about 7 a.m. Their cart was loaded with a flat-screen TV, iPods, Dr. Dre Beats headphones, gift cards and cases for electronic gear. Together, they’d spent about $1,000, they said.

“Everything’s for the kids,” Stevens said.

The two women didn’t try for door-buster specials, arriving at Target about 5:30 a.m. before moving on to Best Buy.

“But we still got great deals,” Dillard said. And H.H. Gregg, Dillard’s and more still lay ahead for the two.

“We’ll be out all day -- until the hubbies call and say ‘I can’t take the children anymore!’ ” she said.

To contact writer Christina M. Wright, call 256-9685. To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.