Larger — and younger — crowds jammed the nation’s malls and big box stores on Black Friday, as a new generation got in on one of the biggest sales days of the year.

There were big crowds across the country as doors opened Thursday night.

Along with bargain-basement goods, luxury stores at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in New York were particularly popular, said spokeswoman Michele Rothstein. Lines formed outside of Coach and Gucci as early as 7 p.m. and deals such as an additional 50% everything at Cole Haan drew shoppers from all over, including a strong international contingent and even parents with strollers.

In addition to hoards of first-timers, were also hard-core Black Friday shoppers with carefully devised plans, Rothstein said. “One woman had a color coded map — there was some pretty seriously strategic planning.”

“I don’t see a lot of browsing,” added Jim Fielding, president of Disney Stores. This year’s Black Friday shoppers are “more researched and more prepared, and very budget conscious,” he said.

There were a few violent incidents across the country, including a report of gunfire at the Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville, N.C. No injuries were reported, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

In Myrtle Beach, S.C., police said two people suffered injuries in an apparent armed robbery attempt after they left a Walmart store around 1 a.m. Friday, and police arrested one man after a fight at Walmart a jewelry counter in Kissimmee, Fla.

In Porter Ranch, Calif., 15 people suffered minor injuries at another Walmart store when one customer used pepper spray in an apparent attempt to move people out of line, according to the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, typically sets the tone for shopping throughout the holiday season. This year, retailers were eager to get a jump start on the day with earlier-than-ever openings. Toys R Us opened at 9 p.m. Thursday, followed by Wal-Mart at 10 p.m. Then, at midnight, Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, and Kohl’s all opened their doors.

Despite some backlash against such early store openings on Thanksgiving Day, the move seemed to pay off.

Before its opening, an estimated 10,000 people waited outside Macy’s flagship store on Herald Square in New York, according to Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski.

At the Toys R Us flagship store in Times Square a line stretched down the block, mostly for deals on video games.

Some 23% of Americans say they plan to go shopping on Black Friday, up from prior years, according to a CNN/ORC International poll.

Altogether, an estimated 152 million people are expected to shop over Black Friday weekend, up 10% from last year, according to a recent report from industry trade group the National Retail Federation. The largest majority of those shoppers are expected to be 18 to 24, the NRF said.

And even that generous estimate is likely to fall short of the actual number, noted Kathy Grannis, an NRF spokeswoman. Last year, the organization estimated there would be 138 million shoppers over the long weekend, when 212 million actually showed up — a record high.

For those who are sitting this one out, more online deals will roll out on Cyber Monday. Eight-in-10 online retailers will have special promotions then, according to the survey by Shop.org, an online division of the industry group the National Retail Federation.

(Source: CNN)