Thanksgiving was a distant memory as stores opened up their doors the morning of Black Friday to shoppers, who emerged from the mall replete with bags and boxes of treasures on the biggest retail day of the year.

Stores such as Sears opened up for Black Friday sales by 8 p.m. Thursday, while many people were still at the dinner table celebrating the holiday.

Noozhawk spoke with Mary Lynn Harms, marketing director of La Cumbre Plaza and Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara’s two malls that saw an influx of shoppers spanning from Thursday into Friday.

While it had been busier downtown at Paseo Nuevo, “for us, it’s been like a regular weekend,” Harms said of La Cumbre.

Harms said that five stores, including Macy’s, opened at midnight and also saw larger crowds.

Harms said the Macy’s downtown saw more traffic than the La Cumbre location, and foot traffic seen Friday morning downtown seemed to back that up.

Throngs of shoppers made their way down State Street beneath the recently installed holiday lights that are expected to turn on for the first time Friday evening.

Harms said Thanksgiving came earlier this year, and more shopping weekends exist between now and Christmas, which could explain some of the lighter traffic.

“People have a little more time to shop than usual,” she said.

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.