Where's the frenzy? Arizona shoppers seek deals on a more mellow Black Friday

• This is the year of the toy
• More people are shopping for themselves this year

Yes, best friends Donna Whittwer and Sharon Zygowicz could have nabbed many of the same Black Friday deals online.

"Where is the fun in that?" said Zygowicz, 42, of Tempe.

At 5:30 a.m. on Friday, the friends since college already had been awake more than 24 hours and had been to seven stores, one Denny's, three Starbucks and then to a second Toys R Us.

The veteran Black Friday shoppers said that this year, the mood among shoppers at stores across metro Phoenix was decidedly more mellow. Many of the same deals were offered online, and the in-store sales had started Nov. 1. So one item was out of stock on this retail red-letter day: the frenzy. The number of employees at the Phoenix Ahwatukee Toys R Us this morning far outnumbered the customers.

With two hours on their shopping schedule left as they awaited the 7 a.m. start of sales at a the Toys R Us, the women said the crowds were non-existent. In years past, they've seen drama, including a Walmart worker so nervous she had to be taken off the sales floor. Donna Whittwer, 43, of Scottsdale said she lost her wallet in a Toys R Us parking lot last year, but another shopper found and returned it.

This year has been uneventful. But their tradition lives on.

Zygowicz said, "We start weeks in advance preparing for this."

The two women scan the ads on BlackFriday.com and then make a list of the toys and gifts they want. They then prioritize and hit the stores with the best deals first. By the end of the day, Zygowicz, with six kids ages 19 to 5, and Whittwer, with a 6-year-old, will have completed 80 percent of their shopping.

Punchy and giggly, the women, dressed in college sweatshirts and sensible shoes, said don't even mind that they'll have to unload and reload Zygowicz's Yukon to fit in the bicycles they just bought.

When they get home, they're still not finished.

"We like to lay everything out and stand back and look at it," Zygowicsz said.

"It's a sickness," her friend added.

"Then we add it all up and talk about how much we saved," Zygowicsz said.

Whittwer emphasized: "Not have much we spent. How much we saved."

On Thursday night, thousands across the Valley came early to the Black Friday affair, waiting outside in mild temperatures for major retailers to open.

Some people came because for them, holiday shopping has in a few short years become a tradition after Thanksgiving dinner. Some came because they knew they could get a bargain.

And some, like brothers Felix Becerra, 19, and Derrick Morales, 17, of Phoenix came because their mother made them. The brothers stood outside a Phoenix Best Buy in a line that snaked around the building at 4:30 p.m. Thursday because their mother had ordered them to buy their little sister an Amazon Fire 7-inch tablet for $34.99.

Store, mall hours on Black Friday in Phoenix area

"They came for me," said a smiling Alize Martinez, 12. "It will be my first tablet."

"We are usually at home now," Becerra said.

"But it's OK," his brother added. "We were bored."

Another set of Black Friday newbies were in line further up, waiting for the store to open at 5 p.m. to purchase a 49-inch flat-screen TV.

Scott and Crystal LaVallee, in their 40s, were in town from Arizona City as new grandparents. Their daughter had brought home her 6-week-premature baby from Chandler Regional Hospital. But while they were visiting their grandchild in the hospital earlier this month, the LaVallees' house was burglarized and their TV, among other items, was taken.

They weren't quite sure what brand of TV it was, but they saw on a smartphone app that Best Buy had it.

"We just need it," Crystal LaVallee said.

Her husband rocked on his heels and said of the 200-deep line, "Oh, boy."

Much as they did on Friday morning, any lines moved quickly on Thursday night. Some shoppers at the Best Buy in Phoenix were out the door less than 10 minutes after the store opened.

Across town in Ahwatukee Foothills, Denise Jones, 55, and her friend Rose Bishop, 55, and Rose's son Tony Bishop, 22, were at the end of a 100-deep line at Kohl's, which opened at 6 p.m. Thursday.

People were friendly and polite, they said, and shopping was more of a fun experience for them than a deal-getting mission.

"We're not diehards," Jones said. "You need to talk to people at the front of the line for that. But they kind of scare me."

She and her friend came for some bargain pajamas. Tony Bishop came for a waffle iron and "some other stuff."

Like other Millennials, Tony Bishop planned to do a little shopping of his own. For himself.

Millennials are expected to lead the way in the self-spending category. Shoppers ages 18-29 plan to spend 24 percent of their holiday budget on themselves, compared with 15 percent for everyone else, according to the National Retail Federation. The average for self-spending is expected to rise to $131.59 this year, compared with $126.37 in 2014.

The social kick-off to the holidays has spilled backward, and with online deals and continual deals in the store, some retail-industry analysts have called Black Friday an antiquated concept.

But it doesn't mean that there will be less shopping this year. The National Retail Federation forecasts a 3.7 percent increase in all holiday spending this year to $630.5 billion, or about $805 per shopper. This is above the 10-year average increase of 2.5 percent.

Almost half, or 46.1 percent, of all holiday spending will be done online, the retail trade association predicted.

Many people like Bobbie Nunn, 35, of Phoenix did both. She shopped earlier this week at the remodeled Walmart at Christown Spectrum Mall in Phoenix. Her cart was near the top with toys such as Crayola giant coloring pads, Smithsonian Magic Rocks, an Ever After High doll, a light-up diary and three teddy bears for her three girls, twin 7-year-oldsand a 10-year-old.

"I do a lot of shopping on Amazon, too," she said. "Personally, I find the best deals are not always on Black Friday. But sometimes you just need to see it and hold it."

Retailers are calling this the "year of the toy." Not any one toy, but electronic toys, including the toys-to-life genre and Star Wars products, abound for a variety of ages. Walmart's CEO has predicted that toys will see their biggest season in years.

Toys "R" Us, which is all about toys but does sell other merchandise, chose to feature nothing but toys in its 28-page Black Friday ad.

Toys "R" Us Executive Vice President Richard Barry said the store offered 100 deals to its most loyal customers in a pre-Black Friday sale and will continue to offer deep discounts through Cyber Monday and beyond. But Black Friday is not dead, he said.

"Make no mistake, Black Friday will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, shopping day of the year for us," Barry said. "It is very important."

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