Shoppers in Santa Barbara enjoy great deals on Black Friday

Black Friday is considered the busiest shopping day of the year, but thanks to stores opening up on Thanksgiving the crowds were smaller and the atmosphere was much calmer.

At the La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara by midday Friday, parking was ample and walkways were quite with the only crowds being found inside the stores with the best deals.

At Paseo Nuevo in downtown Santa Barbara it was a little bit busier. There, crowds flocked to the stores to enjoy the festive holiday atmosphere and get in on some of the best deals.

“It’s a great day with great fun, and good company. We had coffee this morning at Starbucks and a lot of great sales,” said Santa Barbara shopper Debbie Dewey.

“It’s Black Friday and I just wanted to get out and do some Christmas shopping just to get ahead,” said Santa Barbara shopper Mia Andrade.

“I am going shopping for family and close friends. I am here for the sales,” said Santa Barbara shopper Adrianna Ceron.

Most of the shoppers we talked to were taking advantage of the deals big retail clothing stores had. Some having 40 and even 50 percent off every item in the store.

“I think they are really good right now. It (my bill) went from $300 or $400 to about $150, so we are doing really good on the sales,” said Ceron.

“They are pretty good. Some of the stores have buy one, get one 50 percent off for the entire store which is really great. It helps out a lot,” said Santa Barbara shopper Elise Arcuri.

The diehard shoppers say they are taking advantage of both online shopping and brick and mortar shopping to find the best deals.

Most shops close by 9 at night on Black Friday. If you still want to get some deals you can always go online, or go out shopping on Small Business Saturday.