Black Friday doesn't appear to be a bust after all.

Despite stores opening early on Thanksgiving Day, Central Florida malls and stores were packed Friday as shoppers looked for holiday treasures.

"(I’m) tired and worn out. We started shopping at 6 o'clock (Thursday) afternoon," said Jacqueline Chandler, from New Orleans.

Friday didn’t start out busy at the Florida Mall in Orlando.

"We had anticipated it to be busier, but we're happy with the way it is," said Judy Fox from Winter Garden.

By mid-morning Friday, the Florida Mall was packed, and empty parking spaces were sparse.

Retail-analysis company ShopperTrak says Black Friday is still expected to be the biggest shopping day of the holiday season.

Some shoppers decided to skip the Turkey Day sales.

“We stayed home and did family and friends and food,” said Shelly Hodgson from St. Petersburg.

With big crowds both on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, some stores started running out of deals.

"Some items are gone. The early bird gets the worm,” Florida Mall JCPenney sales manager Anna Bulger said. “We've got some jewelry that we sold out of. We had comforter sets we sold out of also."

Overall, the National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to rise 3.7 percent this year. The federation found that 135 million shoppers will shop this holiday weekend. Of that number, 74 percent will shop on Black Friday itself.

"The results will show at the end of the day of how important (Black Friday) is for us and sort of help set the tone for the rest of the holidays," said Greg Vosevich, store manager at ThinkGeek in the Florida Mall.