WARRENTON Milling about under the awning and out of the rain at 4:30 a.m. in front of the Warrenton Fred Meyer, Joe Ganzel of Menlo, Wash., had one thing at the forefront of his mind: the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars Bundle, down, he said, to $320 from its usual $400.

Ganzel had by that point driven hundreds of miles from Menlo to Chehalis, Wash., to first hit Kmart at 8 p.m. Thursday and Walmart at 10 p.m. before making his way to Warrenton.

In about five more years there will be no Thanksgiving, said Ganzel, adding that sales representatives will start handing out turkey to Black Friday shoppers as they wait to get in. For now, Fred Meyer provided free coffee, donuts and a Christmas music CD. Almighty dollar trumps turkey.

The pouring rain didnt stop him and hundreds of others from being present for Fred Meyers 4:55 a.m. opening. Other stores in Seaside had opened as early as 9 p.m. Thursday.

We got here at 2:30 a.m., said Briean Jantes of Warrenton, who downloaded an application on her tablet beforehand to organize all her targets for the day at the Seaside Outlet Mall and in Warrenton: Nike Elite socks, Bear Paw boots and Kindle Fire tablets. Jantes also downloaded her Black Friday coupons on her tablet, which the cashier can scan directly as she pays for her stuff.

Teresa Brown, who works in the electronics department at Fred Meyer, arrived at 3 a.m. to help ready the store for Black Friday. She said communication is key to making the stores six-hour sale run smoothly, along with properly consoling customers when a prized item on their list runs out. People get really upset when you run out of stuff.

The Black Friday rush on the North Coast is somewhat toned down from similar ventures in Portland, where thousands of people will line up every year outside of malls and other shopping centers. Warrenton also opened slightly later than its retail counterparts in the Seaside Outlet Mall.

I totally disagree with it, said Brown about stores opening on Thursday to pre-empt the usual Friday-morning rush. I think people should enjoy Thanksgiving.

Its called Black Friday for a reason. Its supposed to be on Friday.

Store manager Justin Downs said that when the doors open, most of the rush goes right for the electronics department.

Its usually about 80 percent that goes there, he said.

Downs had about 250 people working to start out Black Friday, which is the stores biggest day for things such as electronics. The week before Christmas and all its last-minute shopping, he said, is the best time for the store all around, and just before the Fourth of July is when the biggest rush on food occurs.

We probably have 50 phones out there, said Downs about organizing employess to be in the right place at the right time to help customers.

The rush was a little more subdued across the parking lot at Big 5 Sporting Goods, where about 15 people waited at the door. The stores biggest sellers are usually guns, ammo and shoes. Within the realm of guns are the refurbished collectibles that have become hot items.

Theyre real eras, said salesman Smith Humphreys about the weapons. Theyre not replicas.

People fought for their lives with these weapons.

Store Manager Penny Kinsey, who hails from Kelso, Wash., and stayed in Clatsop County the night before to be close for Black Friday, said she loves the hype, loves the people visiting the coast and looking through the stores for their coveted items.

I think we need to give it to our families, said Kinsey about keeping Thanksgiving Day free of door-busting sales. Lets just stick to Friday.

Beyond Friday

Black Friday might be mostly for the big box stores Gimres is one of the few small businesses in Astoria that opens early for the unofficial holiday but Saturday will be for small businesses.

The third annual Small Business Saturday (www. americanexpress.com/us /small-business/Shop-Small/) will coincide with the Astoria Downtown Historic District Associations Astoria Sparkles event, which kicks off the holiday season with movies, caroling, shopping and more.

From 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Liberty Theater, there will be back-to-back showings of Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too and Frosty the Snowman. From 3 to 5 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus will be at the Liberty Theater to hear all of your holiday wishes.

At 5 p.m. in front of the theater, ADHDA?will hold the Downtown Sparkles Lighting Ceremony, complete with special guests Mayor Willis van Dusen, state Sen. Betsy Johnson and carolers from the North Coast Chorale and the Angel Choir from Scrooged in Astoria.

The event includes Astoria Sparkling Deals, the downtown cores list of discount specials. For schedules, deals and other information, visit www.astoriadowntown.com/

For those not wanting to leave home, theres also Cyber Monday (www.cybermonday .com/), when numerous shopping sites lay out their own deals in what is quickly becoming a 21st-century version of Black Friday.