The Boise Towne Square Mall saw a rush of eager deal hunters Friday morning and crowds continued to grow throughout the late morning hours.

Crowds started lining up hours before doors were to open. Fist in line was Riley Miller, "We walked from my apartment and got here at 10:30 p.m." Others got up in the wee hours of the night just to get a chance to grab the hottest holiday deals, and get a head start on holiday shopping. "Well we've actually never done Black Friday before so we kind of wanted to do it with a bang," Miller said.

The doors opened at 4 a.m. to offer Black Friday discounts- something many Treasure Valley residents are looking for in these tough economic times. Shoppers flooded the mall in excitement and hit the floor running.  Several shoppers told Today's Channel 6 News they were only looking for specific items and had a set game plan for how to find the best deals.

The Sunglass Hut kiosk was ready for the 'Black Friday' push, sales representative Dedrick Foust said "This whole mall in general has sales everywhere so we're just one entity in this gigantic mall.  Everybody has great sales it's a good time to be shopping."

One bargain-hunter told Today's 6 she had no budget limit. Most analysts think shoppers like her will be rare this season and that sales in traditional stores will drop about one percent.

On an up note, Internet analysts expect time-saving aspects of online shopping to translate into a three percent increase in online sales.

Ada County Highway District has prepared for a rush of shoppers around the mall and is changing traffic signal times to accommodate the crowds. Friday evening, signals will be changed to favor those leaving the mall area.

Downtown Boise shoppers should take note of the Boise State game. It begins around 8 o'clock Friday night and will likely bring increased traffic and a shortage of parking spots.

For more click on the Today's Channel 6 News Video Link accompanying this story.