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Black Friday Madness Strikes Twin Cities

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Thousands of shoppers have already come and gone from stores around the Twin Cities. Some stores opened Thanksgiving night, including Toys R Us stores around the country.

Shoppers have been flocking to the Mall of America overnight, as well, hoping to score big-time prizes. One lucky shopper named Tamara won a $1,000 shopping spree at the mall. Officials at the Mall of America said as many as 15,000 people were on hand when stores opened at midnight. By 10 a.m., they had 81,000 shoppers and that number climbed to about 150,000 by p.m.

A record 200,000 people showed up to the Mall of America to shop on Black Friday last year. Mall officials said they're hoping to break that number the end of the night.

Elsewhere, camping out for Black Friday was a little more pleasant this year, especially for people at the Best Buy in Eden Prairie. They got to see a screening of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."

"I don't know it's a little crazy to me, the concept, but saving money so it's worth it," said one shopper-moviegoer.

After the movie ended just before midnight, it was time to focus on shopping again.

Best Buy wasn't alone. At midnight, nearly 1,000 people burst through the doors of the Kohl's store in Roseville. A few minutes later, it was already check out time for people who knew what they were after.

Some shoppers we talked to left the store with some big deals.

"It was worth coming out for, even in the middle of the night," said Nancy Larson, who was visiting family from Iowa.

"We picked up a few extra things," said Andrea Neumann. "Presents I hope that my kids don't see."

And speaking of children, shopping for kids was quite popular this Black Friday. Toys R Us opened up at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving night, as hundreds of parents waited to get some great toy deals.

One thing was consistent everywhere we checked. Around town, most people bought more than they planned.

"I actually came to Target for a PS3, ended up walking out with an LCD TV," admitted Brian Dryjanski.

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