Black Friday: Where to shop in the Valley, how to save big

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At 1 p.m. Friday, Air15 showed us pictures of Arrowhead Mall in the northwest Valley and the parking lots were full!

In our comment section below, SOUND OFF on your Black Friday shopping tips, or tell us your worst holiday shopping nightmares!

The Friday after thanksgiving, commonly called "Black Friday," is considered to be the unofficial first day of the Christmas shopping season.

Retail stores across the Valley are busy decking the halls for Friday's frenzy.

After the Thanksgiving festivities, shoppers hurried to the midnight opening of Arizona Mills to cash in on the deals.

 Valley shoppers experience the madness at Arizona Mills

Kohl's mananger Lindsey Marsh said shoppers can expect hot deals on everything from toys to designer brands.

"For every $50 that our customer spends, regardless of how they spend that $50, they earn $10 back in Khol's cash they can come back and start spending that November 30th," she said.

Paradise Valley Mall is offering a unique Black Friday carpool promotion.

The first 100 shoppers to carpool to the mall with two or more shoppers over the age of 18 will receive a gift bag of goodies for each passenger, and the driver will pick up a $25 American Express gift card.

See a full list of Black Friday advertisements by store

Top Electronic Toys 2008

1. EyeClops Night Vision Goggles
2. Spike the Dinosaur
3. U-Dance
4. I-Dog Dance
5. WowWee Alive Panda Bear Cub Plush Robotic Toy
6. IToys' Me2
7. WowWee Tribot
8. VTech Cyber Pocket Learning System
9. ATC3K Action Camera

From About.com

The National Retail Federation says price will play the biggest role in buying decisions this year, and people who use Black Friday deals through online Black Friday websites like cashbaq.com could get deep discounts. That online shopping portal will feature cash rebates, online coupons and deep discounts at 2,000 stores nationwide.

You can see more hot Black Friday deals at KeepCash.com.

Burlington Coat Factory is offering an extra 50% off their entire stock of designer fragrance gift sets.

At Kmart, buy two, get one free on all Lego building sets.

And it's going to be a treasure hunt at Target department stores according to Target manager John Rodemeyer.

"This year at the locations here in Phoenix we're going to be handing out maps of where some of great deals are in the store," he said.

Many stores, online retailers start offering deals early

For the gaget and computer geeks on your holiday list, Staples is offering the Magellan Roadmate Portable GPS on sale for $169.99.

Office Depot is selling the Compaq Presario CQ50-210 US 15.4" laptop on sale for just under $475 after a $75 instant rebate and free shipping.

Officemax will have the HP Pavilion Notebook PC on sale for $699.99 after a $150 instant rebate and free shipping.

Staples has the Magellan Roadmate 1212 Portable GPS on sale for $169.99 after a $80 instant rebate and free shipping.

If you really want to get your Black Friday shopping started early, Arizona Mills Mall will open at midnight.

Many KB Toys and Disney Stores are also opening up at midnight.

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