Parking was at a premium Friday morning at Kohl’s in Downers Grove, as cars poured into the parking lot, additional parking area, and neighboring lots.

And it was only about 11 a.m.

Chicago resident Doug Black and his brother, Henry Black, of Manchester, Md., hit Kohl’s for some Black Friday shopping. They avoided Chicago for their shopping needs.

“It’s usually crowded around Michigan Avenue,” Doug Black said. “And Von Maur is here. We don’t have these in the city.”

The closest Von Maur was Yorktown Center in Lombard, just a little more than a mile up the road.

“I never did go crazy (with shopping),” Henry Black said.

Doug Black said he doesn’t expect to alter his spending this year either.

“I would say we’re not trend shoppers. We don’t get up at 4 in the morning (for sales),” he said. “I don’t feel threatened in my job.”

And with good reason. He is chief financial officer for the Chicago-based staffing firm Seaton Corp., 860 W. Evergreen Ave.

Several miles away, traffic was moving smoothly around Oak Brook Center Friday morning despite Black Friday sales drawing in crowds of shoppers.

Wide-open sections of the parking lot, combined with crammed-full neighboring sections, showed the concentration of shoppers choosing to park closer to the main entrance, located off of Route 83. a steady stream of cars entering the lots brought shoppers out looking to score bargains while some eyed their budgets.

Indian Head Park resident John Kerscher said his family imposed a budget this year, whereas in years past they spent whatever was needed. Placing a package in the trunk and buckling 2 1/2-year-old Xavier in his car seat, Kerscher said they cut back a little bit this year on holiday spending.

“We’re not affected too much by the economy this year, but we wanted to be responsible,” he said.

Indu Chilukuri and Chilukuri Rao, of Whitewater, Wis., opted to take a day-trip to Oak Brook Center Friday, arriving shortly before 10 a.m. The couple said they just wanted to have a fun day out shopping. The economy isn’t a factor in their buying plans.

“No, it doesn’t affect us,” Chilukuri said.

Rao said they are vegetarian, although practically vegan, so they save money on grocery bills. Their monthly grocery bills are about $100, he said.

“Our own expenditures are really minuscule,” he said.

And that helps with the list of items they purchase. Rao said they buy little cakes from Macy’s – one of which they send to the man who gave him his first job upon immigrating to America. He started Dec. 6, 1981, and he was working in Texas.

“Dec. 7 may be a day that lives in infamy, but for me, Dec. 6 is a day that will live in infamy,” Rao said with a chuckle.

He said he sends his former boss back in Texas a cake, as well as to his current employer.

As the morning wore on, the parking lot rapidly was filling up.

“My whole family is spending the same (amount),” said Crystal Lake resident Mark Broman, who works at Oak Brook Center. “You gotta spend, but you gotta be smart.”

There was a steady stream of shoppers funneling into Yorktown Center in Lombard Friday morning, some coming just to scope out the shopping scene, some with purchases in their sights.

Some shoppers said they anticipate spending less this holiday season.

“Our plans will be spending less than we spent before,” said Azeem Ahmed, who was at Yorktown Center Friday morning with his family. “I think finances are tight for everybody across the board.”

Ahmed and his family were in Lombard visiting relatives for Thanksgiving and wanted to check out the Black Friday sales at the shopping center. The Coralville, Iowa, man said there is some uncertainty with the state of the economy, and many families don’t really know how much money is in retirement accounts – or won’t until the markets settle down.

They’re scaling back on holiday spending in general, Ahmed said, but they plan to spend about the same this year as they did last year on their core family members.

“We’re here very focused,” he said. “No unnecessary spending, splurges.”

Lake Zurich resident Mark Paluch and his family also hit Yorktown Center on Friday morning, but not before 8:30 a.m. He said they celebrated Thanksgiving with their aunts in Riverside, and wanted to check out Yorktown.

He said he didn’t really have any shopping plans for Black Friday.

“What we’re going to do today is look around,” Paluch said.

Not Lyons resident Elvis Ayala. He was struggling to fit a 50-inch plasma television in the back of his car just after 5 a.m. in the parking lot of a Glen Ellyn Wal-Mart. He wasn’t alone.

With sunlight still pushing its way onto the horizon, eager shoppers were parking and running toward the glowing Wal-Mart entrance in a Black Friday tradition — or initiation.

Maria Escobedo, of Berwyn, was one of the early birds. She reached the store at 3 a.m., and got about half of her shopping done. Her motive: A Razor bike.
“I was nervous they were gonna run out,” she said.

Peter Holtrop, of Lombard, was also working off the turkey early.

Holtrop had dropped off his wife at 3:30 a.m. at Kohl’s in Downers Grove, where she worked. Then he headed out to shop for his nieces and nephews.

“I came to Wal-Mart for the good bargains, good prices,” he said. “But I didn’t sleep outside or anything. No way.”