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Murray • At 10 a.m. Friday, Bobbie Killpack and her daughters had nearly filled the back of a white sport-utility vehicle with shopping bags.

Parked outside Fashion Place Mall, they found space for their American Girl and Bath & Body Works purchases next to bags from Target and a big-screen television from Best Buy.

"We started yesterday," Killpack said. "We had dinner for 50 people and then made them all leave so that we could come shopping."

Black Friday is an annual Thanksgiving tradition for the family, which lives in Delta but spends the holiday weekend in Salt Lake County.

Armed with item lists on their smartphones, they shopped for roughly seven hours Thursday night and then, after a few hours' rest, resumed the hunt at 5 a.m. Friday morning.

"The boys had to stay home with the kids," Danielle Killpack said.

At the Murray Best Buy, a temporary barricade fence had been set up to control the flow of shoppers.

Plenty of shoppers arrived Friday morning to take advantage of deals, but general manager Carolee Woolcock said the Black Friday crowds were dwarfed by Thanksgiving shoppers.

As at many stores, Best Buy's Black Friday began Thursday, with doors open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving.

"We had a line this morning but the big line was last night," said Woolcock. "It went around the building."

The National Retail Foundation estimated that as many as 135 million shoppers would take advantage of in-store and online deals over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, in line with the roughly 133 million shoppers last year.

In a prepared statement, National Retail Foundation President Matthew Shay said the growth of online shopping has boosted Black Friday sales, but traditional shopping at retail locations continues to be important for a large number of customers.

"Retailers have done a tremendous job meeting the customer in the middle this holiday season," he said, "giving them both an unforgettable in-store experience that is still critical to any retailer's success and a unique opportunity to find great deals without ever having to leave home through mobile and online promotions."

Woolcock said Best Buy's deals are available online, but foot traffic over the holiday weekend has stayed high during her seven years with the company.

"It's been a great year so far," she said. "It's busier this year than last year."

Twitter: @bjaminwood