DECATUR - At 4:45 a.m., Amy Crackel and her three helpers headed into a big-box store on the city's north side, which already was packed with shoppers.

They initially tried to find the place where the flat-screen TV sets were piled up, getting ready to be unveiled, but were a bit too late to grab the hottest item.

"I think they're gone," said Crackel, a Decatur hairstylist, turning her attention to hunting down a computer external drive.

Meanwhile, her children, 15-year-old Miranda and 11-year-old Michael, fanned out in search of jeans selling for $8 a pair. Her husband, Drew, stayed close to the chief shopper, waiting for further instructions.

It was Black Friday, the day when dedicated deal hunters emerged from their lairs in the dark to take advantage of bargains on electronic gadgets, toys, games and every kind of manufactured item known to womankind.

Stores throughout the area were packed with customers, many having waited for hours in the parking lots for stores to open at 4, 5 or 6 a.m.

Crackel, who pored over the newspaper ads Thursday with her sister to plan her strategy, decided to start out at a store that had its doors open through the night.

She was unfazed by missing out on the TV, which might have required enormous physical strength and stamina to obtain in the heated competition.

There were too many other items on her list still within reach to think about what could have been. Besides, for the true shopper, there is always another angle to be played.

"We can still go home and look online," Crackel said, explaining that Black Friday specials can be purchased online and sent to the store with no shipping costs.

Jody Luttrell of Forsyth started her day at 12:01 a.m., scoring a laptop for $299 on the Web site of a computer company in a deal available only Friday.

By 7:30 a.m., she and her mother, cousin and niece had filled their two vehicles with acquisitions from two stores. Meanwhile, six other family members were still shopping - all part of a well-planned operation - as the foursome took a coffee break.

This group of self-described professional shoppers that includes four generations and has been operating for four decades, began its day with one group at a big-box store while the other two hunted bargains elsewhere.

The best deals Luttrell found in her group's first two stores were a DVD player for $49 and feature film DVDs at $3.98 each. She bought about 40 DVDs. She also bought large stuffed animals for one of her children because they were tagged at $7 apiece.

"It is amazing what the price will make you buy," Luttrell said.

The mother of three children, Luttrell said she still loves shopping with her mother, who started the tradition with her own mother decades before the stores opened before dawn.

"It's so close to my birthday, I can always get something out of it," Luttrell said, adding that her mom, Joyce Davis, bought her a coat this year.

Davis has drawn on her years of experience to organize her crew into a formidable shopping force. Armed with cell phones and lists of the best bargains, the members of her outfit stay in touch throughout the day, with a lunch at 11:30 a.m. at Texas Roadhouse.

Davis said she noticed more good deals on TV sets and other electronic items this year, but the checkout lines were longer than ever, especially at the big-box store. But things went relatively smoothly. Perhaps the presence of police officers, paid by the store to provide security, helped keep the peace.

"I saw a few people shoving for the DVD players, but nobody hit anybody," Luttrell said.

At 5 a.m., when the pile of 400 DVD players was unwrapped, Luttrell stood back as people attacked the pile like hungry bears at a beehive.

"The employees were lucky they didn't get hurt," Luttrell said, adding that some customers grabbed 10 items each. "I just stepped back to let the chaos go. It's not worth it to get hurt for me."

By the time the dust settled, the one DVD player Luttrell was determined to obtain was still there.

The Crackels' desire to find a bargain on a flat-screen TV was satisfied at Best Buy in Forsyth, their second stop. After a lengthy discussion with a salesman after 7 a.m. while the store was relatively calm, they secured one they liked for a little more than they would have paid had they won one in a scrum at their first stop.

With other stores still to visit, Amy Crackel already had met her goal.

"We got everything," she said. "This is going to be our Christmas present to ourself."

hfreeman@herald-review.com|421-6985