Charlotte shoppers hit the stores on Thanksgiving Day

Watch the Panthers Game, or line up for the chance at a 49-inch television for $149.99?

No contest for Tacoby Hamilton, who with his brother Lewis Tucker lined up at 2:15 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day at the Best Buy electronics store near Northlake Mall.

About 30 people were already camped out ahead of them, but the brothers still liked their chances at getting one of the retailer’s advertised doorbuster sales, even if it meant missing part of the Panthers-Cowboys game, which started at 4:30. Best Buy was scheduled to open at 5. “We’re forfeiting the game,” Hamilton said.

It came down to “do you want to come and get the sales. That was a sacrifice this year.”

It was like that on Thursday at Charlotte-area malls and big-box retailers, who pulled in bargain hunters hours before Black Friday.

Deals on electronics were a big draw for early birds queuing up hours before openings in the hope of nabbing tablets, televisions and gaming devices.

Although Belk opened at 6 p.m., the line was already long at 4:50 at the store at Carolina Place Mall, with customers forming a line that extended down the outside of the building. The parking lot outside J.C. Penney was already bustling with cars and customers. That store opened at 3.

At Toys R Us in Pineville, the hundreds of customers waiting came through 50 at a time during the 5 p.m. opening. “The drone is gone,” one customer yelled to another at 5:20.

For many shoppers, their strategy was either an early turkey dinner, or no meal at all until the shopping was done.

Jakeline Rivera chose the no-meal strategy, and as a result, she and her cousin, Vanessa Javier, were first in line at the Kohl’s in Carolina Pavilion on South Boulevard. “We had breakfast and we came here. We haven’t eaten yet,” said Rivera, who won a pass for a Fandango movie voucher for two for being the first in line. They planned to hunt for clothes and electronics.

The growing trend of big-name retailers being open on Thanksgiving has its roots in 2010, when shoppers “started seeing the crack-of-dawn Black Friday,” according to Kathy Allen of the National Retail Federation. “It was the first year it was no longer 8 a.m. on Black Friday, it was 4 a.m.”

From there, retailers tried midnight openings on Thanksgiving in 2011. “Then it continued to get earlier from there,” Allen said.

Last year, Donna Hailey worked security at a Best Buy and watched people line up the night before Thanksgiving for the sales. This year, she lined up herself at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday – and she came prepared for the chilly night, with a propane camping heater, blankets and a chair. “I was ready.”

But she wasn’t first. That distinction went to Lamar Jenkins, who queued up at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, before Best Buy closed for the evening. He gestured to the railing installed for the customer line: “I was helping them put the fences up.” He planned to get a 49-inch Toshiba television, Xbox One, tablets and a laptop.

While it remains to be seen how Thanksgiving Day shopping impacts Black Friday sales, the early jump hasn’t hurt retailers’ bottom lines in previous years, Allen said.

“Really all it’s done is spread out people’s spending,” Allen said. “Retailers don’t care if you’re spending with them on Thursday or Friday or Saturday, as long as you are shopping with them.”

And this year – with lower gas prices and more robust home sales in the mix – consumers appear relatively confident in the economy and may be poised to spend a decent chunk of their rising incomes during the holiday shopping season.

Measures of consumer confidence have been mixed but generally paint an optimistic picture. According to Gallup, Americans plan to spend on average $830 on holiday shopping this winter – the most since 2007, just before the recession officially began.

Still, some economic trends may dampen consumer spending this year. The National Retail Federation predicts holiday spending this year will increase 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion – slower than last year’s growth of 4.1 percent.

The Associated Press contributed.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Charlotte shoppers hit the stores on Thanksgiving Day."