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ALBANY, GA --
They say the early bird catches the worm but this Black Friday the early shopper got the deal.

The Albany Mall opened its door early, but it wasn’t early enough for some shoppers.

“We had shoppers waiting in line to come in the doors at 3:00 a.m., we had Belk opening at 3 and several other stores opening at 4:00, the remainder of the mall opened at 6:00,” said Debra Rowe, marketing director for the mall.

"We started about 9:30 yesterday night,” said Cathy Brunson, one Black Friday shopper.

Armed with blankets chairs and lots of coffee, shoppers lined up hours before stores even opened to save a few bucks this holiday season.

"I saved 75% off some jewelry in Belk's, I spent $101 and saved $160 so that's a good deal,” said Leigh Stalvey, another Black Friday shopper.

Even with security out in full force, it wasn't all candy canes and missile toe.

"We were actually cussed out by an older gentlemen he said he were cutting in front of him, in fact we weren't and a cop had to come up to the register,” said one shopper.

Some might call these shoppers crazy but as Christmas music filled the air, the spirit of the holidays was defiantly felt.

"It’s fun, it's just the fact of being out there, it's fun, we've had more fun between the stores laughing,” said shoppers Beth Rackley and Leigh Stalvey.

As the sun was just starting to rise the parking lot was still packed and shoppers were still searching for sales.

And you can't forget about the big man in red, although he has been at the Albany Mall since November 18^th, with Black Friday the unofficial start of Christmas you can bet a lot more people will be filling this line to give Santa their list.