The unofficial start of holiday shopping — “Black Friday,” and its windfall of savings, roused many Teche Area residents out of their beds in the wee hours of the morning today.

The earliest store to open in New Iberia was Goodys at 4 a.m. and its parking lot was nearly full by  5 a.m. At neighboring Office Depot, which opened at 6 a.m., its flyer promising savings of almost $300 on a lap top had at least 20 people waiting in line for doors to open.

Mike Viator, 42,  arrived at 3:40 a.m. to wait on his opportunity to buy a laptop at the store.

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Not typically a “Black Friday” shopper, he in fact said he “hated” the shopping frenzy, but braved the crowds for the advertised deals and planned on hitting Radio Shack after his purchase for its price reduction on an iPod. None of the items Viator was shopping for today were for himself. He said venturing out before 4 a.m. was “taking one for the team.”

Kmart opened its doors at 6 a.m., but 11-year-old Meleah Guilbeau, and her mother Rebecca Guilbeau, arrived to wait in line at 3 a.m. for a scooter on sale this morning.

“We were the only ones here for about an hour,” Meleah Guilbeau said. “We’ve watched a lot of people drive up and drive off.”

Second in line at Kmart was Holly Eastin, who arrived at 4:30 a.m. to purchase a bike that made it on one of her children’s wish lists.

“I’m going home after this,” she said. “A fifty dollar savings on the bike and that’s enough for me.”

Doors opened at 6 a.m. at Conns with a several-hundred dollar advertised savings on a 52 inch plasma television that brought Laurie Hulin, Dusty Estis and Debbie Estis to its doors at 3 a.m. to hurry and wait for the store to open.

Debbie Estis said this is the second year she has braved the crowds for the shopping event.

“I come with the kids,” she said. “They want me to come because I’ve got the money.”

The group also planned to hit other stores in the area before going home for what will be, a much needed nap.

The parking lot at Walmart was 90 percent full and the store crowded with more than 500 people before the 5 a.m. kick off of many of the store’s advertised sales. Walmart employees stood guard around pallets of merchandise as the loudspeaker announced to shoppers the time left to wait.

Despite the usual tradition of Teche Area residents heading to Lafayette for “Black Friday,” many choose to stay and spend money at home, waiting patiently for doors to open to kick off their holiday shopping and hopefully, make a dent on their ever growing lists of things to buy.