That was the scene Friday -- and the prediction for today.

The traditional after-Thanksgiving day sale -- known as Black Friday -- is just the tip of the holiday shopping frenzy.

For the next 29 days, you can expect discounts, cyber specials and extended store hours.

And if you missed Friday's doorbusters, well, don't fret: There are some today, too.

For instance, show up at Sears between 7 a.m. and noon today and get a 10 percent discount on most items in the store, excluding electronics and appliances.

Kohl's is opening at 6 a.m., and JCPenney and Belk will open at 8 a.m. at most locations. All tout early-bird specials. And Belk and Kohl's are offering $10 coupons for every $50 you spend.

Up to 137 million shoppers across the country are expected to start their holiday shopping this weekend. On Friday, The Streets at Southpoint in Durham expected about 125,000 to turn out, said Courtney Phillips, the mall's marketing manager.

Bonnie Wei of Charlotte and her mother, Deborah Heath of Cary, were among the early ones. Wearing comfortable shoes, they were at the mall at 4:30 a.m.

When Belk opened at 5, they slid right in. "It was quiet, the store was clean," Wei said. "It felt like VIP shopping."

By 6:15 a.m., they were in the nearby Super Target. They got the last of the $5 backpacks and the Barbie houses.

"When we came out of Target, the sun came up," Wei said.

Similar scenes played out around the Triangle.

Neither managers at Crabtree Valley Mall nor Triangle Town Center, the two Raleigh malls, had estimates on traffic. But by noon Friday, nearly all of 8,000 parking spaces at Triangle Town Center were filled, mall manager Dave Pierson said. He estimated the spaces would turn over three to four times. Also by midmorning, most of the 5,700 spaces at Crabtree Valley Mall were full, marketing director Sandra Geist said.

But nowhere in the Triangle did the crowds approach the frenzy of shoppers at Concord Mills around midnight. The crush was so great at the mall outside Charlotte that officials had to close the mall doors for a few minutes to regain control, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Area malls are planning special give-aways to keep the traffic coming over the next several days.

At Triangle Town Center and Cary Towne Center, be prepared for "random acts of kindness." Mall representatives will approach shoppers waiting in line and ask whether they can pick up the tab for their purchases. Crabtree Valley Mall is giving away a 2006 Saturn Vue. And Southpoint mall will give a $20 gift certificate for every $200 a customer puts on a Discover credit card.

Area stores aren't the only ones vying for the $460 billion people are expected to spend this season. Online retailers want some of the action, too.

About 61 million people are expected to shop online for holiday gifts during work hours on Monday, up from 51.7 million this season last year, according to Shop.org, a part of the National Retail Federation.

Last year, more people looked than bought on what has become known as Cyber Monday, so this year online retailers say they'll offer more discounts.

Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Circuit City all had special "hidden" discounts that were available online Friday. Expect more of the same.

At barnesandnoble.com, for example, shoppers will get a 40 percent discount on some items Monday.

"This week is really the kickoff," said Helen Malani of Shopzilla, a shopping search Web site. "Shoppers do a good portion of their shopping this weekend, but they don't do all of it.

"[They] don't have to buy the first thing they see in the store. Instead, they are using all the channels -- store, online and catalog -- to shop."

(Staff writer Sabine Volmer contributed to this article.)

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