North Bay shoppers crowd the stores before and during Black Friday

If you are looking for the definition of a hard-core holiday shopper, it would be hard to beat Angel Hernandez of Santa Rosa.

Last Friday, Hernandez had surgery on his right knee, requiring a large soft cast over his leg. But that didn’t stop him from showing up Wednesday morning at the Best Buy on Santa Rosa Avenue, where he stayed through the day and overnight in a tent, as the temperature dropped to 30 degrees.

The reward for his long wait at the front of a line of other shoppers Thanksgiving night was a so-called “doorbuster” prize: a 48-inch Toshiba LED TV for $150, a device that regularly sells for $430.

Before the doors opened at Best Buy at 5 p.m., Hernandez already was looking forward to bringing that TV back home to celebrate a Thanksgiving with his family over a table of carne asada and mole sauce.

“It’s a good time to open the store. You have the rest of the day after 5 p.m. to spend time with your family with a brand-new TV,” Hernandez said. “There’s football games.”

Hernandez was one of a contingent of North Bay residents on Thursday night who decided to get an early jump on holiday shopping. Both Santa Rosa Plaza and Coddingtown Mall opened at 6 p.m., and big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Kmart - which touted its “ridiculously awesome deals,” including a Star Wars lightsaber and denim jeans for kids - were open throughout the day.

On Black Friday proper, morning shoppers continued their search for deals.

“I don’t take it seriously...but I like to look for Christmas gifts,” said Iva Ansbro of Santa Rosa, who said she found discounts on clothes and DVDs at Target on Santa Rosa Avenue.

By 9 a.m., Aubrie Valle of Rohnert Park said she’d already hit Best Buy and Old Navy in Santa Rosa.

“I want to make sure I’m not missing anything,” said Valle, who purchased an Xbox One at Best Buy and clothes at Old Navy.

Kayla Point said she got a discounted pair of boots for her boyfriend at Boot Barn, also on Santa Rosa Avenue. She said she planned to stop at other stores in search of a deal.

“Hey, if you can save money, why not?” she said. “It all adds up.”

Retail sales in the United States are forecast to increase 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion for November and December, according to the National Retail Federation, which pegged the spending this season as slightly smaller than the 4.1 percent increase over the same period last year.

The final two months could account for roughly 19 percent of retail sales for 2015, according to the federation, a total that excludes spending on cars, gas and restaurants.

The holiday sales come as much of the retail industry is scaling back on its promotion of Black Friday, especially in recent years as the annual frenzy has morphed into sales on Thanksgiving proper, or Black Thursday.

Kmart, for example, opened its doors at 6 a.m. Thursday, and plenty of other national retailers followed suit, staying open throughout Thanksgiving.

At the same time, a backlash brewing among those who say Thanksgiving should be shopping free has picked up steam even among some national stores.

The video-game retailer GameStop, which has locations in both Santa Rosa Plaza and Coddingtown, was closed Thursday.

“We believe strongly that our customers and associates should have the opportunity to spend the Thanksgiving holiday relaxing with family and friends, and not worrying with the stress of where to find the best shopping deals,” said Mike Buskey, executive vice president for GameStop, said in a statement.

The most notable example was REI, a consumer cooperative that sells outdoor gear, which was closed both Thursday and Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. REI promoted a campaign to have people spend Friday outside, with such activities as hiking, skiing or biking.

“The idea has struck a chord - far more than we expected,” Jerry Stritzke, REI president and chief executive officer, said in a statement Monday.

The Santa Rosa REI store has received positive feedback from its customers over the move, according to Lance Schoenen, the store manager

Small-business owners said they hope to take advantage of the increasing sentiment against rampant consumerism, especially in promoting the “shop local” campaign that is relatively strong in Sonoma County, given its small-town roots.

“Shopping locally has been all the buzz. I think people are moving more toward quality more than quantity,” said Kelley Rajala, owner of Made Local Marketplace, a cooperative that carries art, jewelry, crafts and other items that are made by local residents. “More and more people are becoming more conscious about their shopping decisions.”

Rajala will be especially enthused when she opens up this morning because she has moved her store from Fifth Street to Fourth Street, near the downtown mall, with double the amount of sales space. “We have a prime location to show our work,” she said.

The prime location on Thursday night, however, was in front of the Pink store at Santa Rosa Plaza, where at least 70 people were waiting outside before its doors opened. A corps of two dozen staff members tried to manage the crowd.

Manager Jeniece Aragon said the primary reason for the line of eager shoppers was that Pink offers special discounted Black Friday items that can only be bought at the store, which specializes in sweatshirts, pants and underwear for young women and teens.

Aragon was weighing whether to keep the store open throughout the night like last year, given the amount of foot traffic she anticipated.

“The thing with Pink is that our customers know once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Aragon said. “We hardly get a shipment in, so they know if they want it, they have to buy it.”

One popular item was a track-like sweatsuit that was half price at $60 for both top and bottom. “They’re a good price,” 13-year-old Ary Campa said.

While some may scoff at shoppers out on Thanksgiving, Joanne Miller of Lakeport said she enjoys the camaraderie waiting in line with other shoppers as she sat in a recliner outside Best Buy in Santa Rosa. Miller said she has waited in line for nine different Black Friday sales, including one in deep snow in Boise, Idaho.

“It’s kind of like a family,” Miller said, noting she visited with people Thursday who waited in line last year at the same Best Buy. Hernandez was among that group, too.

“Everybody’s got a different reason for doing this,” Miller said, adding that she planned to purchase the big-screen TV for a gift.

“It keeps me humble,” she said.

Staff Writer Angela Hart contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misidentified the downtown Santa Rosa business called Made Local Marketplace.