It was like rush-hour traffic during dinnertime on Thanksgiving at the Keeaumoku Walmart, where hundreds of zealous shoppers stood in lines to score the best Black Friday deals of the year.

Nohelani Jackson and her parents stood in line at 3 p.m. for the door-buster sales that began at 5 p.m. After four years of early shopping, they had formulated a game plan beforehand to make sure they got everything they wanted.

“There were three of us, so we kind of split up to what we wanted the most. We learned it after the first time. … We learned our lesson,” she said, adding that she did much of her online shopping the night before and had Thanksgiving lunch at noon to accommodate the shopping schedule. In total the family spent about $500 on two carts full of items that included scooters, a hoverboard and a water dispenser, but saved more than $300, she said.

>> Photo Gallery: Black Friday shopping

“For us it was worth it. We tried to really scope it out and see which ones have the best savings. We got a lot of our Christmas shopping done,” she said.

Walmart was just stop one for Jackson, who was heading to Waikele, Ulta and then to her favorite clothing store, Eden in Love, in Kakaako at 4 a.m. She planned to shop nonstop until about 2 p.m. Friday.

“I’m pulling an all-nighter,” she said. “I got coffee. I’m going to maybe do a power nap, maybe just watch Hallmark movies, I don’t know. I know I’m crazy, right?”

An estimated 165.3 million shoppers are expected from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. That includes 39.6 million on Thanksgiving and 114.6 million on Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, marking the start of the holiday season.

Retail sales in November and December are projected to increase by as much as 4.2% over last year to $730.7 billion.

David Cianelli, general manager at Pearlridge Center, said mall retailers were expecting a spike in business over last year.

“There’s plenty of people in the mall and a lot of door- busters going on. We expect sales that are actually going to be up from last year just given the strong economy, a low unemployment rate and (the fact that) we have fairly unique stores here at Pearlridge Center,” which completed $33 million in renovations last year. “We have a lot of real good tail winds. It’s just a fun night out.”

By 5 p.m. Thursday the line at Best Buy in Iwilei wrapped around the building of the big-box store.

Nuuanu residents Tommy and Bayzee Walker were the first in line at 6 a.m. to scoop up a couple of Insignia 58-inch LED TVs for $199.

“We came for the cream of the crop, the best of the best,” Bayzee Walker said, adding that she did not sleep over like other consumers at the Aiea store. “We’re not that crazy.”

Their friend Henry Keb joined them after an early Thanksgiving lunch.

“Now we got the TV, everything’s all good,” he said. “Now we’re going to go for dinner.”

First-time Black Friday novice Philip Brewer and his girlfriend, Lynnette Salazar, joined the throngs of Walmart shoppers for just a couple of things.

“We didn’t come for any door-bust surprises or anything, but we stayed about two hours when we saw all the deals, and we waited and waited in different areas,” Brewer said. “She took one road, I took the other and we got all the things we wanted.”

The couple spent $200 on mostly Christmas gifts but saved about $400 to $500, he said.

”The savings is incredible. When you look at the deals, I think it’s worth it,” Brewer said. “The trick is to get like a snack and a drink while you wait so you just fill up your hunger a little bit. Now we’ll go home and eat the Thanksgiving meal. We worked up an appetite.”

Salazar added, “It was fun, actually. I would do it again. We came for one stop, and we saw everybody so we joined in. It was so worth it.”