SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Ashley Carmichael takes no prisoners on Black Friday.

Four days before the biggest shopping day of the holiday season the Spanish Fort administrative assistant and mother of three flipped through a tiny notebook while sipping a cup of coffee near the Eastern Shore Centre.

“It’s all right here,” she said, tapping the notebook’s waterproof cover. “They made their lists. I checked them twice, and now it’s time to hit the sales.”

Carmichael, a seasoned early-bird shopper, said she actually begins her Christmas shopping in August while most people are scoring back-to-school deals, so that by Black Friday she’s putting the finishing touches on a complicated haul and stuffing stockings.

“I’ve got two in college and a third who’s into video games, and that doesn’t count the nieces, nephews, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. You have to be organized, or somebody gets left out,” she said.

Black Friday, so called because it traditionally ushers in retailers’ first true profits for the year, has long been the double-edged saving grace and nemesis of bargain shoppers. With retailers offering deep discounts and extended hours, some shoppers — like Crystal Compton of Daphne — will flock to locales such as the Eastern Shore Centre on Friday and try to seize the largest volume of deals in the most concentrated area.

“I’m really not a mall person, but for Christmas shopping you just kind of have to get out there with everybody else and scramble for what you want before all the good stuff is gone,” said Compton, who is eyeing a flat-screen TV for her husband and a gift certificate for her nephews to buy video games. The rest, she said, will “come to me while I wander around.”

It’s unclear at this point how fruitful doorbuster sales might be for ailing retailers hit hard by a national economic recession that cut sharply into Alabama’s 2008 holiday cheer. Statewide, sales tax collections decreased 12.5 percent in December 2008 compared with December 2007.

Patrick Remmick, who has waited tables at several of the lifestyle center’s satellite restaurants for the past two years, said customer traffic on the Eastern Shore seems to have rebounded substantially since last Christmas.

“Business was still good last year, but you can definitely tell there’s a lot more people out spending money this year. I think a lot of the fear is gone,” Remmick said, basing his comments on luncheon conversations and the volume of purchases he sees in parked vehicles.

Remmick’s observation, though, is only one on a lengthy list of safe shopping guidelines released earlier this week by Alabama Attorney General Troy King.

“As we plan to share this festive season with gift buying for family and friends, it is a sad fact that criminals will be waiting for an opportunity to steal from you,” King said. “They know that shoppers become distracted, tired and stressed, and vulnerable to thieves who would prey upon them.”

King cautioned shoppers to be “wary” of “old-fashioned thieves” who snatch purses, packages and even break into cars; but also be mindful of Internet schemes that use technology to pilfer personal information.

Specifically, King’s office released the following guide to safe holiday shopping:

Consumers are urged to report any problems of consumer fraud or identity theft to local law enforcement or to the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division, by calling toll-free to 1-800-392-5658, by visiting www.ago.alabama.gov., or by writing to 500 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36130.