Bargain-hunting British Columbians gave up sleep in search of sales Friday, flocking across the border to take advantage of one of the busiest shopping days of the year -- "Black Friday"

Coquitlam resident David MacNeil waited for two days to get his hands on a cheap laptop and other electronics outside an Office Depot in Bellingham, Wash.

"We had three lawn chairs here with sleeping bags and basically took turns," MacNeil said.

Doors at some stores opened in the wee hours of the morning.

By 7 a.m., some shoppers were done -- with the best deals flying out the doors minutes after opening.

At the Best Buy next door, store staff were expecting to see 12,000 customers -- six times what they get on a typical Friday.

"I think the Canadian dollar today is a little over 93 cents so a lot of our folks are from Canada," said manager Dave Lackey.

Some customers said they saved as much as $400, but others weren't sure it was worth it.

"Everybody was just scrambling and pushing," one customer said.

Last year, on Black Friday, a Wal-Mart worker in New York died when he was trampled as doors opened.

Boxing Day in November

Meanwhile, back on this side of the border, many retailers are slashing prices to lure shoppers, too -- even going so far as to advertise Boxing Day sales now.

"We know this year, the people don't have a lot of money, maybe they're going to spend cheaper than last year," said Victoria Nasri, an employee at Hits on Robson Street.

A recent survey showed consumer confidence dropped 2.5 percent from October and 3.7 percent from August.

So retailers have been forced to respond.

Wal-Mart is slashing prices on 18,000 items, a record number for the company.

"Retailers are being as innovative as they can," said Mark Startup, president and CEO of Retail BC, the association that represents B.C. retailers.

"Retailers have worked very hard this year to manage their expenses, much more so than previous years, because let's face it, total consumption has slowed down quite a bit. And that forces the retailer to come to the surface, take risks ... find different ways to reach their customer."

Startup said he believes confidence is coming back and that this Christmas will be better than last when the recession was in full swing.

With reports from CTV British Columbia's Michele Brunoro and Renu Bakshi