Black Friday. The day of crowds, bargains and this year hungry shoppers gobbling down pizza and deli-style roast beef sandwiches at the hour most people crave black coffee and buttered toast.

Shopping the day after Thanksgiving has been a holiday tradition for at least a decade for sisters-in-law, Rhonda Branham of West Liberty, Ky., and Vergia Branham of Sandy Hook. The duo made the 40-minute trip from the eastern part of Kentucky to the Town Center Mall in Ashland to take in shopping at Walmart first at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving.

“It was a nightmare there,” Vergia Branham said. “People got into fights over Rubbermaid and were tearing the plastic off things that weren’t supposed to go on sale until later.”

By 6:30 a.m. Friday they were refueling with sandwiches at the mall food court before heading out again. Between the two of them they have more than 30 to shop for and had just made a small dent into their list.

“The sales are really good,” Rhonda Branham said. “We do this every year.”

Chris Adkins and his wife, Dana, of Raceland, Ky., started at midnight at the Huntington Mall where the wait in the checkout lines could last for a couple of hours.

By 5:30 a.m. they were in Ashland.

“It is worth the savings,” Chris Adkins said. “I got $240 worth of clothes for $150 with the discounts.”

The couple expected to put in at least four more hours of heavy duty shopping before calling it a day.