Although managers were generally optimistic about sales at major Santa Maria retail stores, their parking lots and the customers leaving their stores didn’t reflect last year’s level of heavy shopping on “Black Friday.”

Last year on the Friday after Thanksgiving, shoppers streamed from major department and specialty stores throughout the morning, pushing overflowing shopping carts into jam-packed lots where cars circulated like sharks.

This year, after the early morning “door-buster bargain” shoppers had fled, customers leaving the stores carried only a couple of bags or left empty-handed, and many parking lots were littered with open spaces.

One exception was the Santa Maria Town Center mall. Last year, it seemed like a ghost town compared to the big-box discounters. But this year, the mall was bustling with shoppers, and parking was at a premium.

Customers filled the smaller shops as well as the large stores, and shop managers said they were pleased with the big upswing in Black Friday business this year.

“It’s an extremely beautiful business day in every sense of the word,” said Darin Bradley, store manager at Sears. “The customers are pleased, the employees are happy and the sales are steady.”

Bradley said a couple of hundred shoppers were waiting in line to take advantage of 450 door-buster sale items when the store opened at 5 a.m.

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Despite a more subdued tone among shoppers elsewhere, store managers said business was as good as last year on what’s traditionally the heaviest shopping day of the year.

“When I got to work at 5 o’clock, there was already a line all the way back to the garden center,” said Tony Franco, executive team leader at Target, which opened at 6 a.m.

Franco said electronics were the big draw, and business seemed to equal that of last year.

“It’s got that feel to it,” he said. “People are spending just like last year. They don’t want to let their family members down. ... We have the same amount of people.”

But most of the shoppers who stopped to talk said they were spending much less this year than last.

In the Target parking lot, Sarah Johnson of Arroyo Grande and Luanne Giacalone of San Martin said there’s “no way” they’re spending as much on Christmas this year as they did last year.

“We’re definitely cutting spending in half,” Giacalone said. “My children won’t be happy about it, but we’re spending less.”

The pair came to Santa Maria after starting their shopping day at 6 a.m. in Arroyo Grande, which Johnson described as “crazy.”

“We went to Wal-Mart, and it was insane, so we just left,” she said.

“We grabbed a Starbucks (coffee) and came here,” Giacalone added.

With the exception of a few pajama-wearing patrons and a handful of shoppers laden with bags, there was little indication of the gusto associated with Black Friday at Prime Outlets Pismo Beach.

Many shoppers strolled calmly along the row of stores around 9 a.m. without a single shopping bag in hand.

Nipomo resident Jamie Courtenay was enjoying the calmness at the outlet center after her experience with mass crowds at the Arroyo Grande Wal-Mart at 5 a.m.

“The lines are almost to the toy section,” Courtenay said of Wal-Mart. She said she heard a customer there pushed another one after the person cut in line.

Wal-Marts in Santa Maria and Lompoc also were besieged with shoppers who waited overnight for a few heavily discounted items. One visitor to the Lompoc Wal-Mart said shoppers were yelling, pushing and threatening anyone who might dare to cut in line.

Best Buy operations manager Katie Fuller said people began camping in front of the store as early as 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“We were here till midnight Wednesday prepping the store, and by 9 p.m. the line was almost to the end of the building,” she said.

Lisa Finn of Santa Maria, leaving Best Buy about 9 a.m. with a bag of goods, didn’t seem too upset about oversleeping and not getting started until 8:30 a.m. at Walgreens. She said she’s been Christmas shopping for weeks.

“I’ve already gotten stuff on sale,” Finn said. “I’m almost all done. I’ve done some shopping online, at Amazon.com, and gotten some good deals.”

Finn said she visited Best Buy on a hunt for specific electronic items on sale. Many other shoppers had the same idea.

“This year it’s all about the laptops and LCD TVs,” Fuller said.

“And iPods,” added Lorraine Reyes, the store’s product process manager.

“And gaming,” Fuller continued. “Those are the four must-haves this year.”

In contrast to Wal-Mart’s shoppers, Best Buy customers were friendly and in good moods, the managers said, and many expressed appreciation for the store’s improvements in “traffic flow” through the check-out stands.

Smaller retailers also reported an early morning rush. At Lombard’s Auto Sounds, store manager David Joy and his employees were enjoying a break about 8 a.m. after greeting a line of people at 5:30 a.m.

“It’s quiet now,” Joy said. “But we’ll get a rush later — the normal Friday morning crowd.”

Staff writer Samantha Yale contributed to this report.

November 29, 2008