DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — The Friday after Thanksgiving marks the biggest shopping day of the year.

Every Black Friday, many shoppers wake up early in the morning and wait in crowded lines to get those sweet deals from their favorite stores.

“I’m from Blakely, Georgia so we are an hour ahead of you guys,” shopper Tonya Spence said. “So we drove down here at about six our time, so five your time, and we’ve been camped out since then.”

“About seven and a half hours, we were waiting in the car, we went up to the gas station we played the coin bingo thing in there because we were bored,” shopper Reagan Howard said. “We spent so much money in there.”

“Well, we parked our car at four p.m. on Thanksgiving, but we came back about eight or so,” shoppers Elizabeth Lewis and Gabby Richards said.

While many great deals can be found the day after Thanksgiving, many Wiregrass shoppers see Black Friday as more than just a shopping spree.

“We just loved Black Friday in general,” Spence said. “It’s a big tradition with all the women in our family, and Black Friday is always been one of our major stops because there is always a line-up and all the excitement of it.”

“We’ve been doing this five years now,” Lewis and Richards said. “Our moms went Black Friday shopping together and in 6th grade, they said we can finally come, so we come here every year.”

Despite all the chaos and crowds, some shoppers find the memories made on Black Friday the best deals of all.

“For me, it’s more of a holiday than Thanksgiving,” Lewis said. “I look forward to it more.”

“I look forward to making memories with Elizabeth because we always have so much fun,” Richards said.