“We have found everything we were looking for and some things we weren’t looking for.”

That was the assessment of Angie Pinkard while shopping early Friday at Mount Berry Square mall.

Black Friday brought the shoppers to the mall in droves, many in line waiting to get in when the mall opened at 4 a.m.

Many, like Pinkard and her friends Sherrie Hughes and Jill Hollaran, all of Adairsville, had already been to the East Rome Walmart before stopping by the mall at 6 a.m.

Frankie Ford, the manager at Maurices, said the morning “started off with a lot of lookers, but an hour later they were back buying.”

Ford said she was surprised to see a lot of people putting their purchases on plastic. “A lot of people are opening (Maurices) accounts and using them,” she said.

Barbara Carter, of Rome, her daughter-in-law Beth Carter and granddaughter Lily Carter, both visiting from east Georgia for the holiday, had spent the morning buying ornaments for their Christmas trees and were just enjoying being out together.

Stanley Wilson, the new store manager at Sears, said he was ecstatic with the crowd at his end of the mall, saying he had already done 50 percent of last year’s Black Friday figure before 9 a.m. Wilson also added that layaways have been a big thing, as shoppers get ready for Christmas.

Valerie Stepp, of Rome, and her daughters Juliana and Brooklyn, were out early, hitting the mall for gifts for family and teachers.

Toys R Us, located on an outparcel at Mount Berry Square, opened at midnight and had people lined up well before then, many wanting to pick up the hard to get Zhu Zhu pets. The furry creatures were gone in minutes, leaving shoppers to turn to other toys and games for their children.

In downtown Rome, Elaine Abercrombie at Greene’s Jewelers said customers were waiting on them when they arrived to open this morning. Abercrombie has adorned her shop with many Christmas trees. She said the economy has been “yucky, and everyone is scared, so we just decided to go festive and try to make everybody feel good.”

Renee Brown, general manager at Barnes & Nobles booksellers in the Riverbend Center, said they were doing real well, and their Nook was a very popular item. The device is the company’s new advanced eBook reader.

About 100 people were waiting for the Home Depot to open at 6 a.m. Friday morning. Assistant manager Valerie Denker said that artificial Christmas trees had really been moving. Power tools and appliances were also big sellers on Black Friday.

Crissy Popham was found shopping at the East Rome Kmart.

“We’ve been to Walmart, every store in the mall, Kmart and we’re still going. Our checkbooks are empty, but our car is full.”