Then, the minimum wage was around $5, Gomez-Cantieri said, so she had to have a plan when she was Christmas shopping. 

She would go in with a list of things to buy and move on to the next store. She would hit Gottchalks, Mervyns, Walmart, and Target, and was done shopping around noon.

“It wasn’t as bad as it is today," said Gomez-Cantieri.

As her children got older, Gomez-Cantieri stopped getting up early to shop on Black Friday. Two years ago, she decided to venture out again, this time with her mom. They went to the Tulare outlets and waited outside of a children’s store until the doors opened at midnight. 

Sylvia Gomez-Cantieri said Black Friday shopping in the 80's "wasn't as bad as it is today." (Photo by: Sylvia Gomez-Cantieri)

After they finally picked out everything they needed, they waited to pay for what seemed like forever. “It was a nightmare,” Gomez-Cantieri said. “We were in line for like two and a half hours. I looked at my mom and I said, ‘I’m done. I’m not ever doing this again.’”

Although an exasperated Gomez-Cantieri won’t be shopping this Black Friday, more than 95 million people are expected to hit the stores on the 28th. Shoppers are trying to get the items with the best deals, law enforcement is trying to stay visible to reduce the risk of violence and robbery, and stores are extremely detail-oriented for the big day.  

Store Strategies

Stores started planning months ago, according to Lars Perner, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing at the University Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. He is an expert in consumer psychology and consumer behavior around Black Friday and has studied store marketing and layout strategies.

Many strategies spell success on Black Friday, such as manufacturers’ special deals for stores, product placement and releasing the best price first.

For example, store retailers “go in very well ahead of time and talk to the manufactures and say, ‘Look, if you give us a great price, we may be able to purchase as much as a half million units of big screen TVs,’” said Perner. Those initial deals with manufacturers then turn into discounted prices for consumers. 

However, that creates a problem for other stores: They have to match the price or “one up” the other store, even though they may have paid more. “Then those stores become more dependent on shoppers making impulse buys to make up for the cost,” said Perner.

Shopping For More Than Good Deals

Shoppers should be vigilant about stores offering mail-in rebates.

“It is known that many times, even for very big rebates, it’s less than half of the people who follow through and send in those things,” said Perner.

Amy Patterson has worked in retail for seven Black Fridays. (Photo courtesy of Amy Patterson)

For some shoppers, Black Friday has gained more meaning than just finding the best deals. It’s become somewhat of a tradition.

Llesenia Esponisa said for the past eight years she and her cousins have gotten up early, grabbed Starbucks and hit the stores.  

Most of the items she buys are for her kid’s Christmas presents and Esponisa has a strategy to get what she needs amongst the large crowds. 

“I go a couple days before or a week before to map out the store. I want to know the aisle and exactly where it is located so I don’t waste my time,” said Esponisa. “I avoid the crowded aisles. The electronic areas are the worst. I don’t fight for items either. I kind of just let them push me out of the way.”

Amy Patterson said she thinks Black Friday has definitely turned into more of a cultural thing. She worked at a big box fashion retailer for seven years. That means she worked seven Black Fridays. 

“We would have tons of families that would come in wearing like matching t-shirts that would say ‘Black Friday 2013,’”said Patterson. “I think it kind of turned into like this cultural obsession where people don’t even come for the deals anymore, they just go to say they did it.”

Most of the sale items on Black Friday can be found throughout the year for nearly the same price, said Patterson. She suggests shoppers go online because they can still get the exact same deals without dealing with the large crowds. 

That’s exactly what Toni Salgado does. “It’s less chaos and now days you just get everything free shipping, so it’s much easier.”

Oracio Moreno said Black Friday changed after he watched his mom get pushed while walking into Macy's. (Photo courtesy of Oracio Moreno)

Salgado agrees there are still great deals for shoppers who don’t want to go to the store on Black Friday. 

“If you look around on the Internet, you can find really great deals on just about everything,” said Salgado. “They practically do the shopping for you now days. They compare the prices to everybody.”

Salgado already has checked some of the items off of her Christmas list by shopping online.

Bringing Out The Horses

Oracio Moreno and his family sit together on Thanksgiving night and plan out which stores they want to go to the following day.

“I do it for the thrill of it and because I chauffer my mom and my sisters,” said Moreno. The family has been doing this for the past four years. 

The days of family fun were cut short one year when Moreno said he and his family were walking into Macy’s and there were a lot of people pushing to get in.

(Graphic by Jessica Oliveira)

“They pushed my mom pretty hard, so I got upset. I kind of pushed back," he said. "More or less I was just concerned about the safety of my mom.”

Kaleb Sawdey got into an argument with a woman on year over a $15 bike that he was picking up for a charity.

Sawdey said he grabbed the last bicycle from the shelf and set it down next to him. Immediately after, a woman walked up and tried to grab it. He then asked the woman what she was doing.

“She was like ‘this is for my kid’s Christmas.’ I was like ‘this is for kids who don’t have Christmas lady, calm down,’” said Sawdey.

Sawdey was able to keep the bike he picked up, but it is no secret there have been many incidents with customers fighting, arguing, and even being killed on Black Friday.  

Laurel Harold, Public Relations for Target stores said the company works with “individual store teams to implement a robust crowd management plan that includes additional crowd management training, security coverage in parking lots and store specific maps.”

The Los Angeles Police Department also has plans to be highly visible on Black Friday. Sara Faden, Police Officer with the LAPD, said cadet officers will be on foot around shopping centers, malls and large parking structures near stores. 

The LAPD will also have horse-mounted patrol as extra precaution. 

“Police officers will also be patrolling in and around highly populated shopping areas for extra support,” said Faden. 

As shoppers head out to hit the stores among the 95 million other people, Patterson, the former retail worker, asked that shoppers keep those in mind who have to work on Black Friday. “Most places you have to work at least 10 to 12 hours, instead of the usual eight,” Patterson said. 

The LAPD also reminds shoppers to be aware of their surroundings, lock their car doors and place all shopping bags in the trunk of their cars. 

Contact Staff Reporter Jessica Harrington here and follow her on Twitter here.