The overnight low of 12 degrees in Flagstaff was not enough to deter James and Marquis Apachee from standing in front of the Best Buy for roughly 12 hours.

As a result, the two men were first in line when the doors opened at 5 a.m., assuring them first choice of the $179 Compaq netbooks the electronics retailer had on sale.

And in this case, being at the head of the line was crucial. A representative for Best Buy said the Flagstaff store opened Friday with just eight Compaq netbooks in stock.

Deeply discounted merchandise, known as doorbusters, fueled huge crowds all over Flagstaff Friday morning.

Minutes before the Best Buy opened it doors, James Apachee said the retailer's flier convinced him to wait it out. A Compaq netbook for only $179 was too good to resist.

"You can't beat the price," Apachee said.

Best Buy store manager Bonnie Bouschet said a larger selection of sale items and bigger inventory likely fueled record sales at her store.

"Everybody was really concerned about the economy last year; this year they are really looking for value," Bouschet said. "This year we have more product in our store than last year. Last year, with the economy, we had cut back on what we actually brought in."

LINED UP TO THE BACK WALL

While Best Buy in Flagstaff saw its largest Black Friday crowd since it opened in 2006, thousands of other local shoppers camped out in front of Target, Kohl's, Walmart and the Flagstaff Mall to snap up televisions, laptop computers and toys.

Hours after Walmart's Black Friday sales had started, more than 100 shoppers lined up all the way to the back of the store trying to check out. Demand for toys, DVDs and electronics stripped displays clean within a matter of hours at Walmart.

The westside retailer, along with Hastings and Walgreens, was open on Thanksgiving, but with much smaller crowds than those seen on Friday.

Another business looking to cash in on the Black Friday early-morning crowds was Mountain Delights Bakery. Co-owner Kristen Taite said she brought in a total of five employees to help sell bacon-topped doughnuts and other pastries in the mall's food court.

But Taite said mall patrons were hungry for sales, not doughnuts. After the first hour of business, she said she had hoped for more pre-dawn customers.

The National Retail Federation predicted 134 million people will shop during the holiday weekend, up from the 128 million people who turned out last year last year.

Joe Ferguson can be reached at jferguson@azdailysun.com or 556-2253.