Trish Davis is a woman on a mission.

While many people spend Thanksgiving night relaxing, Davis spends it strategizing for Black Friday. The White Marsh resident develops a list, goes through the sales ads and checks online for the best deals.

That approach mostly worked for Davis today as she trekked to stores throughout eastern Baltimore County with her mother, Carol Brown. Davis bought baby dolls, slippers and pajamas at Target in White Marsh before heading off to the Kohl's at Martin's Plaza in Middle River.

"Black Friday means the holiday season is here," Davis said. "It's a rush to be out there and seeing all of the Christmas decorations and looking for those quality deals while sending time with friends and family."

Davis is not alone.

According to the National Retail Federation, up to 138 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend, an increase of the more than the 134 million people who planned to do so last year.

Retailers are banking that bargains on everything from e-readers and appliances to smart phones, clothes and toys. The National Retail Federation expects customers to spend about $447.1 billion this holiday season, an increase of abut 2.3 percent from 2009.

While that growth remains slightly lower than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 2.5 percent, it would be a marked improvement from both last year's 0.4 percent increase and the dismal 3.9 percent holiday sales decline retailers experienced in 2008.

"While consumers have shown they are once again willing to spend on what's important to them, they will still be very conscientious about price," said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz in a statement.  "Retailers are expected to compensate for this fundamental shift in shopper mentality by offering significant promotions throughout the holiday season and emphasizing value throughout their marketing efforts."

The Best Buy in Golden Ring was one store taking such an approach. The big box electronics store had customers lined up around the store hoping for a bargain when the store opened its doors at 5 a.m. Best Buy has hired 29,000 seasonal employees nationwide to deal with the increased customer volume.

Nook eReaders going for $99.99, a Compaq netbook for $149.99 and Google's Internet TV/Blue-ray disc player for $299.99 were just three of the hottest items flying off the shelves on Friday.

Hector Borges, the home life supervisor at the Best Buy store, said while the lines were long and demands were high, everything went fairly well. By 10:30 a.m., customers were moving in and out of the store at a brisk pace.

"We all anticipate this day every year," said Borges, was at work by 3 a.m. "The day actually goes by quickly and it doesn't start to drag on until the pace slows and the adrenaline stops flowing. The toughest part is telling people we're out of something. We had some disappointed people who wanted the deal on the netbooks."

Shoppers at the Toys-R-Us in Rosedale dealt with some similar circumstances. Lines at that store stretched all the way down to Rossville Boulevard before it opened its doors at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Some of its "doorbuster" deals included getting a $50 gift card with the purchase of an iPod Touch and 50 percent off various Transformers and baby doll sets.

"The rush is just fantastic when you get a good deal," said Octavia Slughter, who shopped at Toys-R-Us for her three children with her husband and sister-in-law. "The lines were long, but everyone moved in and out pretty fast."

Brandon Wigfield typically doesn't like shopping on Black Friday. But, the Essex resident was off from work and was looking for a new TV so he ventured out with his son, Travis.

Wigfield bought a 32-inch flat screen TV for $328 at the Carroll Island Wal-Mart before looking for a mounting stand for it at the Best Buy in Golden Ring.

"It was busy, but not too crazy by 10 a.m.," Wigfield said. "We got what we needed and got out without too much trouble."