THOMASVILLE — The pace was expected to pick up, but shopper traffic was light in downtown Thomasville midmorning on Black Friday.

It was early in the day, said Ron Dixon, owner of Al Dixon Mens Wear on South Broad Street.

In describing Black Friday, Dixon said, “It sets the tone for the rest of the season. Usually, if it’s good, it’s a good season. It’s very important we start off good today.”

“I shop two days before Christmas,” said Philip Faulk, an Al Dixon customer. Faulk does not take advantage of Black Friday sales.

From all indications, the 2014 Christmas shopping season should be good for merchants, Dixon said.

He said some people shop online, but many others like to feel and touch what they are buying.

Dixon said 20 to 25 percent of his annual sales take place in November and December.

Sally Ranney’s intentions were to shop for quail-hunting apparel at Stafford’s Sporting Goods, but she found herself in the gift section of the Smith Avenue store.

“I’m not a shopper. I have to get my head around it. I get bored quickly,” said Ranney, who lives near Aspen, Colo., and is visiting in the area.

Spotting hunting apparel elsewhere in the store, Ranney said. “I’m very attracted to the gifts here.”

Warren Stafford, store owner, said Black Friday at Stafford’s began a week early to prevent a lot of customers pouring in on Black Friday, preventing store personnel from being able to provide desired individual shopper attention.

Stafford said many of his customers come home for the holidays. “Hopefully, we pick this up,” he explained.

Recent cold weather has helped business. So did general election results earlier this month.

“Since the election, I have seen a more optimistic outlook,” he said.

Elections results were critical to all retailers, Stafford said, adding, “especially to this business.”

“The hunting season, all that comes together,” he explained.

The Christmas shopping season provides “a considerable portion” of Stafford’s annual sales, but not the 60 percent claimed by some.

“As a retailer, I am trying to figure out how I can make the rest of the year as big as that period,” Stafford said.

Black Friday got off to a slow start at 8:30 a.m. Friday at JCPenney in Thomasville.

A single shopper’s heels echoed as she walked down the aisle. “I think people are just trying to recover from shopping on Thanksgiving Day,” said Peggy Taylor, sales associate.

To encourage in-store shopping on Thursday, JCPenney Co. nationwide a deal in which the 100th of every 100 coupons awarded worth $100 off a purchase of $100 or more. Taylor said she knew of at least one $100 coupon being given away, along with many $10 coupons.

“It was very busy on Thanksgiving. But so far, this Friday is nothing like Black Friday has been in the past,” Taylor said.

At Walmart, it was a different story.

Sales Associate Jennifer Hill was back at work on Friday after working on Thanksgiving Day ,too. “It wasn’t crazy, crazy on Thanksgiving, but it was really busy,” she explained.

She said shoppers waited in line outside the store on Thanksgiving Day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the 200 50-inch televisions that were on sale. “We sold all 200 of those TVs within an hour.”

Some Walmart shoppers were back on Friday for more. Curtis Franklin and Jolanda Lovette had shopped on Thanksgiving for televisions and phones but were back Friday for three gifts in really big boxes. “Yeah, we got a couple of good deals,” Franklin smiled.

Dee Butler, a Belk sales associate, said, “It wasn’t bad Thanksgiving evening. Business was steady.”

She said she worked until midnight Thanksgiving and was back Friday at 8 a.m.

While many enjoyed shopping on Thanksgiving, there were just as many who were against it.

Norma Gerber, a Thomasville native, did not shop on Thanksgiving. She said, “People should be home with their family on Thanksgiving. I hope if enough people don’t come out, they’ll quit doing it.”

Elaine Simmons of Doerun agreed, “I love to shop in Thomasville, but not on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is for family.”

There were quite a few folks from Tallahassee, Fla., in Thomasville Friday morning. Kelli Walker made the short drive to avoid bigger crowds in Tallahassee. Linda Morgan, from Davy, Fla., was visiting friends in Tallahassee. They shopped in Thomasville early Friday morning.

“It’s fun to come up here, ” Walker said.

According to the National Retail Federation, nearly 68 million adults nationally planned on shopping Thanksgiving weekend. In response to Deloitte’s Pre-Thanksgiving Shopping Survey shoppers said they had completed 18 percent of their holiday gift spending, down from 23 percent at the same time in 2011.

“With just 27 shopping days from Black Friday through Christmas Eve — one more than last year but fewer than in prior years — Black Friday is a make-or-break day this year for many stores,” according to Elizabeth Holmes with the Wall Street Journal.

But there might be one day that is bigger — Saturday, Dec. 20, which is expected to overtake Black Friday this year, in terms of store traffic, for the first time in 10 years, according to ShopperTrak.

That Saturday is becoming known as “Super Saturday,” according to Holmes. Shoppers plan to spend an average of $804 this season, up almost 5 percent from $767 last year, according to the NRF.