SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Careful planning and execution helped Evelyn Roper check everyone off her Christmas shopping list and still pull into her Spanish Fort Estates driveway Friday before the Iron Bowl’s 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

“Part of me just wanted to skip the whole Black Friday thing, but the sales really were too good to pass up this year,” said Roper, who scored electronics, clothing, jewelry, movies and gift cards for the harder-to-shop-for relatives.

Mark Kraft, general manager of the Eastern Shore Centre, said the rescheduling of the annual faceoff between in-state football rivals Alabama and Auburn to coincide with the biggest shopping day of the year caused a little initial anxiety, but shoppers such as Roper proved shoppers are in it for the bargains this year.

In fact, he said, the deals being offered actually attracted a “good showing” from both the Pensacola and Mississippi markets to boot.

“The day was busy and people always seem to enjoy the atmosphere of the busiest shopping day of the year, being with friends and family and catching the holiday spirit,” Kraft said.

Sara Douglas of Daphne said she actually did more scouting for the phenomenon known as Cyber Monday than buying on Black Friday, but she did manage to pick up a few deals that were just too good to ignore.

“I really am an online shopping junkie, but I went with my mom to keep her company and have lunch and did find a couple of things I couldn’t pass up,” said Douglas, who also comparison-shopped in a few stores to see if the pending online deals offered any true savings.

“I gotta say, this is the first time in three or four years I saw things in stores that were as competitively priced as some of what you can find online. It really did make a difference,” she said.

Kraft said traffic at the open-air shopping center is typically judged by a number of factors including total sales, foot traffic, availability of parking spaces, waiting periods in restaurants and feedback from the individual stores.

“Our traffic was strong and steady, and we had a busy weekend,” he said, noting that initial impressions indicate traffic and sales outpaced those for the same weekend in 2008 but it is too early to say for certain.

And from “doorbuster” sales to deep-discount coupons, Kraft said retailers employed a host of innovations to attract traffic during a difficult economy.

“Coupons are a big incentive this holiday season. As for the Black Friday weekend, we had stores like Old Navy and Michael’s who opened on Thanksgiving Day – and they were very busy – and then our stores opened early,” Kraft said. “(Shoppers) are doing more research and price checking, but we find the customers still enjoy the holiday season and getting out to search for the bargains.”