Shoppers across the Mahoning Valley are hoping to score on some discounts this Black Friday, with crowds of thousands at Southern Park Mall and Eastwood Mall.

Many analysts expect to see at least a slight surge in consumer spending compared to last year. That could be driven by this year's retail calendar, full of early and extended Black Friday sales online.

Some holiday shoppers tell 21News they've already done plenty of shopping online, but it's not stopping them from visiting stores in-person.

"Even with doing everything online, I still need to come out and just look at things," Southern Park Mall shopper Carmen Ocasio says. "There's so much you don't see online that you can see in stores."

Some shoppers camped outside businesses overnight to nab the first spots in line.
At the Eastwood Mall complex, an estimated 1,000 shoppers waited in lines for doors to open Friday morning.
A representative from the mall tells 21 News the number of visitors throughout the day is expected to top last year's crowd size of 45,000 shoppers.