Die-hard shoppers crowded into metro Atlanta malls and outlet centers Friday in the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving spending. However, many said they are budgeting a little less for holiday gifts this year.

Though crowds were reported some places, veteran shoppers at North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville reported smaller early morning crowds than usual.

On the other side of metro Atlanta, even before the sun came up, the storm clouds facing retailers were evident.

Around 3:45 a.m., what looked like an intimidating line formed outside the J.C. Penney at Arbor Place in Douglasville. It surged through the door about 4 a.m., but then the long line didn’t seem scary. And the crowd didn’t grow bigger for hours.

The store didn’t feel crowded like last year’s opening hour. “We were able to pull right up to the door,” said Jan Stephenson, 52, of Douglasville, who arrived at 3:35 a.m.

Black Friday is typically one of the biggest shopping days of the year. It earns its name from when many retailers historically become profitable.

Last year, more than 147 million people shopped on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving.

This year, crowds seemed lighter, based on anecdotes from shoppers and mall clerks. And the National Retail Federation expected 19 million fewer shoppers for the three days after Thanksgiving. A final number won’t be out until next week.

Retailers trotted out extra sales and promotions in hopes of boosting sales for a holiday season that’s expected to be the weakest in years.

Scenes from around the area:

• Lynne Meadows, shopping with her family at the Dawsonville outlet mall, was thrilled to find a trendy Ed Hardy designer T-shirt for $30 at Off 5th, a Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. That’s down from typical retail of $63, she said.

“We have to marinate in our deals,” a giddy Meadows said.

Sylvia Rowe, who shopped at the same store earlier, was a little more subdued.

“I think more about my purchases than I have before. It’s more a need versus what’s a want … except for myself,” she said. She plans to spend $500 this year on gifts for about 10 people, as well as about $200 on herself.

On Friday she got a black designer handbag for $150, marked down from $550, and a belt for $19, marked down from $48.

• Traffic was thick at The Avenue Peachtree City — but then again it usually is. The midsize complex has specialty stores and chains such as Gap, Williams-Sonoma and Wolf Camera.

Robert Senff, district manager for Books-A-Million, visited the Peachtree City location after checking out the Discover Mills store earlier.

He said crowds were similar to last year but shopping habits seemed different. “It seems to be more personal shopping, not the gifty thing I was expecting,” Senff said.

He said top sellers at Books-A-Million include the “Twilight” series, bargain books and a new Sony eBook reader. Later in the month, Senff said, he expects a new book in the Harry Potter series to sell well.

Tammie Adams of Senoia shopped at The Avenue with her three daughters. She said her budget is one-third of last year’s, and she plans to give more gift cards so people can buy things they need.

• At Cobb County’s Town Center Market, William Rodriges ended a long morning shopping as he left Wal-Mart about noon.

Rodriges started at 5 a.m. and made stops at the Town Center at Cobb mall and Dick’s Sporting Goods, among others.

The Kennesaw resident said he and his wife set aside $300 for holiday gifts this year but added, “there’s no telling what she’ll spend.”

• Lloyd and Nia Vaughn and their two daughters browsed for deals at Sam’s Club in Duluth, where crowds were steady but the scene was far from hectic.

Nia Vaughn got up at 5:30 a.m. to snag bargains at the Duluth Super Wal-Mart and Kohl’s.

“Normally I don’t get up at the crack of dawn,” said Nia Vaughn.

Ads for special items, like a $9 flash drive at Wal-Mart, were too enticing to pass up this year, she said. The Vaughns said they plan to spend only half what they normally have on Christmas shopping.

A sales manager at the store said the hot item this year was the Wii Fit, which sold out within an hour of the store’s 4:30 a.m. opening. It was advertised at $79.

• Lori Hutchinson and husband Donald joined thick crowds at Fayetteville’s sprawling Pavilion shopping complex. They do not plan to change their spending plans and expressed no worries about the economy.

“It’s just stocks going up and down, and they’ve been known to do that,” said Lori Hutchinson.

Verna Bean, a Bermuda resident visiting relatives, also said she has no intention of cutting back.

“How could I? I have grandchildren and they look forward to something,” she said with a laugh.

Tina Murray, visiting from Montgomery, emerged from Wal-Mart with a full buggy but said her gift list is only half as long as usual.

• At the Target at I-75 and Jonesboro Road in Henry County, Nikki Williams shopped with her three kids and was looking for a Kung Fu Panda game. But she was recently laid off from a job as a customer service representative and plans to spend about half what she did last year.

Sisters Brittany and Michelle Smith went out about 6 a.m. and were surprised at the lack of lines at the nearby Belk.

“Last year we had to wait in line forever, and this year it was just a few people,” said Michelle Smith.

• In Douglasville, mother and daughter Bettye Leggett and Tonya Sarratt arrived at 6:30 a.m. at Riverplace Mall for their first “Black Friday” experience.

Sarratt needed a down comforter for a gift and found one for $39.99 at Belk. She said everything else she’d seen was more than $100.

Both were surprised by the size of the crowds Friday.

“I didn’t think this many people would be out and awake. I was fooled,” said Sarratt.

Retailers refer to the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday not because it’s often a gloomy, cold winter’s day but because the bean counters say it kicks off the period when stores become profitable. Some retailers make as much as 40 percent of their profit in the final quarter of the year.

For some families, it’s a holiday tradition to bundle up, cram the family into the sedan with a Thermos of coffee and help bust down those retail doors at midnight or 5 a.m.

But with a recession in the air this year, the fate of tens of thousands of retail stores could hang on whether consumers spend as usual, cut back or even stay home.

The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts that 148,000 stores could close in 2008. Retail sectors hit particularly hard include apparel, jewelry, electronics and food/beverage. Fifteen retail chains have already filed for bankruptcy, including electronics chain Circuit City, which is withdrawing from the Atlanta market.

Assistant marketing professor Randy Stuart of Kennesaw State University thinks folks will be roaming the malls Friday because it’s a tradition and something to do. But they’ll be holding their wallets close.

“I’ve been saying for months that Black Friday — instead of moving most retailers from the red into the black — is going to feel more like going to a funeral,” she said. “Tell the ladies to put their black veils on. I think it’s going to be very depressing.”

Already teetering from the aftermath of Wall Street’s instability as well as the credit crunch, retailers are anxiously awaiting returns from both Black Friday and its cousin, Cyber Monday, when many people return to work and order gifts online.

Last year, according to the National Retail Federation, more than 147 million shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday weekend and spent an average of $347.44. Predictions this year call for 128 million people to shop this Friday, Saturday or Sunday, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch for the NRF, a Washington-based group that tracks retail trends.

A study BIGresearch did for Shop.org predicts that more than half of the workers with Internet access, or 72.8 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from work on Monday.

The NRF thinks lower gas prices will help get people into the stores this year.

And with so many retailers going “promotion crazy,” it could get shoppers off the couch.

“This could be the most heavily promotional Black Friday in history,” Tracy Mullin, NRF president and CEO, said in a briefing. “Shoppers who held off buying a DVD player or winter coat over the last few months will find that prices may literally be too good to pass up.”

— Staff writers Jamie Gumbrecht, Andria Simmons and Kent A. Miles contributed to this report