This Christmas, people might be getting more gifts because local retail workers said that this Black Friday was busier than last year’s.

Some businesses got an early start and began their sales Thursday night.

“It was crazy Thursday night,” J.C. Penney’s manager Alexis Petty said. “We had a line all the way down the side walk.”

Petty said that on Friday, business was steady all day.

“Business has been pretty steady,” Petty said. “We had a line right when we opened. One lady this morning had a buggy full of items, but she had a $100 off coupon so she saved a lot of money.”

J.C. Penney’s employee Malik Stough said that a lot of customers have been taking advantage of the sales to shop for holiday gifts.

“We were really busy last night,” Stough said. “Most people have been shopping for holiday gifts and have been bringing in their own coupons, as well as the coupons we have in the store.”

Pink Peppers owner Marrianne Thomason said that customers are more excited this year about Christmas shopping.

“I think they are just in the mindset for Christmas shopping,” Thomason said. “Usually there is a specific thing that people are interested in each year during Christmas, but this year it seems like they are buying a variety of things.”

Thomason said that they were steady all day Friday and that she encourages citizens to shop locally for the holidays.

“It is so important for people to shop locally,” Thomason said. “People should really check out the smaller businesses in town and just take a look around. I know that people have access to the Internet now, but if they would give small businesses a chance then they might find something they didn’t know they needed. We need people to shop with us, and in turn, the community needs small businesses.”

Christopher’s Fine Jewelry opened a little later than other businesses, but as soon as their doors opened, people came in to take advantage of their Black Friday deals.

“We decided to open a little later, but we have had people come in since we opened,” Donna Lawrence said. “We should do better than last year if it stays this busy.”

The Alabama Retailer is estimating more than $20 billion will be spent in the state on holiday gifts this year.

“We just hope to get a little bit of that $20 billion,” Lawrence said.

Marvin’s had a pancake breakfast to celebrate Black Friday, but manager Kaylene Clark was a little disappointed with the turnout.

“We didn’t get as many people as we wanted,” Clark said. “But now that things have picked up, we are doing better than we did last year.”

Several customers across the city were busy shopping for different gifts. Sherri Miller and Katie Cook took the time during Black Friday to have some time away from their homes.

“It is a time where we can hang out,” Miller said. “We get to have fun while shopping and we get to have some time away from the kids.”

Alvin and Cameron Jackson said they went to Wal-Mart just to buy a T.V.

“I knew that my mom wanted a better T.V.,” Jackson said. “So I asked my son to drive me to town so we could hop on this sale.”