TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- Clarence McFarlin never believed there would come a day when he would open his business in The Mall at Barnes Crossing at midnight, but that's exactly what he did.
"We got the early crowd. We got another crowd about 12:30 a.m.-1 a.m., and I'm sure the nighttime crowd will be (busy) too. Spread the whole thing out a little bit more, and everything will have a little more time and make a little more money," McFarlin said.
Five additional shopping hours are proving profitable.
When mall officials counted vehicles last year, there was an estimated 82,000 total.
As of noon Friday, the number of cars was 60 percent toward that goal.
"With that kind of jump start on Black Friday, we're dead on to have a record Black Friday," mall manager Jeff Snyder said.
A little extra shopping time was a big hit with many, but there are still those who want to shop at their own pace.
"We just decided to come later today because last night we thought was too busy. We didn't want to get in the rush-rush," Tamara Prestage said.
"They called wanting to come last night, and I said 'No way,' so I said I'll go tomorrow. We're glad we waited," Betty Prestage said.
"No, it's too much. I don't want to shop overnight," Sabrina Jones said.
"I don't want to be in the giant crowd like in the morning because it's such a rush," Katie Burn said.
"We wanted to sleep this morning instead of getting up. We didn't want to be in all the rush," Erin Hill said.
"Yesterday we went to Walmart for the sales because they start early, and it was just madness when we got there. It was crazy," Lucas Turner said.
"Come out and catch some sales. See who had good sales today, so I'm really finding good sales today," Charlotte Leatherwood said.
It appears shoppers just can't get enough of those.
