April Caswell and her mother, Donna Smeaton, had never braved the Black Friday crowds during the early morning rush. This year, the two gave it a shot and headed out to shop at 11 p.m. They were surprised to find that it wasn’t all that bad.

“People were happy,” said Caswell. “It wasn’t as horrible as some of the stories you hear. It was nice.”

The two traveled to K-Mart, Walmart, Ocean State Job Lot, Home Depot and Target before finally returning home at 7:30 a.m. After a long nap, they returned to Walmart to pick up their big-ticket item: two TVs.

“Walmart was the most organized store that we hit today. They were prepared for this day,” she said. “Every carriage in the whole store was inside the store, and there was a guy dishing out carriages as people walked in.”

The stores along Route 6 were packed on Nov. 27 as customers hunted for deals.

“As I look out my window, the parking lot is completely full,” said Stephen Bryon, the general manager of Dartmouth Mall. “I can’t ask for a lot more than that.”

Bryon said the mall was experiencing “fantastic” success on Black Friday. He said the mall, which opened at midnight, was drawing in more money than in previous years.

“Speaking with some of the store managers, a lot of them have their entire projected day in by 5 and 6 this morning,” said Bryon. “I think the economy has improved. Christmas is a time that, if parents or grandparents have the extra funding, they’re going to spend it on their children or their grandchildren.”

“I have every confidence in the world that this is going to be an excellent holiday,” he added.

Missy Carvalho, the manager of Justice, said her store in the mall surpassed the money it brought in last year by 10 a.m.

“We’re doing really good, even with the construction going on. I thought people wouldn’t want to be near the mall, but we’re doing well,” said Carvalho.

While the area around Route 6 and Faunce Corner Road was congested with traffic, the police presence kept traffic orderly. Two officers from the Dartmouth Police were directing traffic outside of Party Time.

Bryon said that he meets with Acting Police Chief Robert Szala and the traffic division of the police to plan for the holiday season. Black Friday planning starts in September.

“We place police officers at four critical intersections that surround the Route 6/Faunce Corner Road area,” said Bryon. “What this does is help keep traffic slow as much as we possibly can given the amount of cars out there.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of town, cars were parked along Elm Street and pedestrians were window shopping in Padanaram.

“We’ve been busy all day. Everyone’s in a good mood because of the beautiful weather,” said Lisa Blanchard of the antique shop, Village Merchant.

She said that Padanaram gives people a chance to avoid huge crowds of people. It also allows people who are staying with friends and family during the holiday a chance to explore the area, she said.

Blanchard anticipates a larger crowd on Nov. 28 on account of it being Small Business Saturday.