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To shop or not to shop?

That was the question facing anyone with access to a store on Black Friday, the notoriously busy shopping day when bargain-conscious consumers break out their Christmas lists and flock to local shopping centers in search of early-morning steals, deals and discounts.

That would explain the miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 495 at 2 a.m. So much for sleeping - shoppers were headed to the Wrentham Outlets, which opened at midnight.

Several stores opened at midnight at the Emerald Square mall as well, including Aeropostale, Yankee Candle, Charlotte Russe and Finish Line, while mall stores such as JCPenney and Sears opened up at 4 a.m., offering deep discounts to early birds.

"Things got off to a really good start," said mall manager Allen Smith. "I talked to a number of retailers and they were happy with the early morning business. As of 10 a.m., it was ahead of where they were at 10 a.m. last year." Smith attributes the improved numbers to increased marketing efforts.

"I think the stores were much more promotional this year," he said. "Stores were less aggressive last year because the economy wasn't in the same condition."

This year there were over 200 door buster specials from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., he said, compared to just 63 last year.

Bargain hunters were out by the thousands.

At Toys R Us in North Attleboro shoppers lined up to get into the store at midnight Thursday stretched to Route 1, North Attleboro police said.

Wrentham Police Chief Jim Anderson said police were called to the Sony store at Wrentham Village Premium Outlets about 7:26 a.m. for reports of a disturbance with people pushing in line.

A report on WBZ radio said the trouble broke out when someone paid $50 to cut in line.

Anderson said he does not know the cause of the pushing, but the trouble was over when police arrived, and no one filed a complaint.

He said he was told there were hundreds of people in line.

Anderson said traffic waiting to get into the outlet mall was backed up into Mansfield on Interstate 495 from about 11:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The traffic jam eventually eased, but a steady stream of vehicles made its way to the mall throughout the night and day.

Due to the influx of shoppers, the mall closed off certain levels of the parking decks for an hour at a time starting at 11 a.m., rather than have customers prowl for parking spaces in vain. The entire Macy's garage was full by 11 a.m., Smith said, as was the Sears back garage.

Kevin Green of North Attleboro wasn't exactly impressed with the so-called deals, though, and said shoppers can find deals of equal or better value on the store Web site or via email promotions.

"That 20 percent off, that's nothing," said Green, 32. "That's only paying the tax."

Green headed to Walmart at 11 a.m., which he said was "crazy busy," then headed to the mall around 2 p.m. in search of Christmas gifts for his family. But by 4 p.m., he was still empty-handed.

"You don't see any bags because there aren't any deals," he said.

The experience led Green to form a theory about early birds on Black Friday.

"I think it's more for women to get up early," he said. "Women love to shop. Us being men, we hesitate with the stuff we buy and we also think about price. Women just buy."

A woman who wanted to be identified only as "Debbie" of Johnston, R.I. said that Black Friday shopping is as much about the tradition as the savings. She ventured out to Walmart in her hometown of Johnston, R.I. at 5:30 a.m., where customers had to line up and get tickets for any items they wanted. The experience was, in a word, "horrible."

"We left with nothing, because it wasn't even worth it," she said.

Not only were all the TVs she'd come in search of already sold, but she found herself in the middle of a melee between two strangers.

"I said 'Let's get out of here,'" she said.

She went to a nearby Target, then a Walmart in Coventry, R.I., where she found a navigational system and finally the mall during the afternoon.

Other shoppers opted to venture out later and take a more low-key approach to holiday shopping. Christina Hughes got to Emerald Square during the late afternoon to see if she could still find some bargains after the Black Friday rush.

"I came in at 4, and I'm just happy to be one of the lucky ones to pull right in," said Hughes, an L.A. resident who was home visiting family in her former hometown of E. Greenwich, R.I.

Julie Young said she slept in until 11 a.m. before hitting the mall with her family in the afternoon.

"I thought it would have been more crowded than this," said Young, 51, of Boston. "It probably was early in the morning."

Young said that if retailers offered deeper discounts, she might be more motivated to trade sleep for shopping time.

"It used to be worth it years ago, but it's not now," said Young. "It used to be 40 to 50 percent off, but now you're not saving much at all. I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I prefer to sleep in."