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It was 4:30 a.m. Friday morning when Tamera Johnson, 11, was standing before a big glass door at the Mall of America. Tamera, in a pink hat and scarf, had been camping out with her family since 4 p.m. on the Thanksgiving evening. 

"I stayed up [all night]," said the 11-year-old girl. "I want a new phone."

Tamera and her family were the first in line among thousands of shoppers waiting for Black Friday at the Mall of America. The 96-acre mall was instantly filled up when it opened up its doors at 5 a.m..  

"Now three years in a row we're seeing huge record-breaking numbers on Black Friday which is exciting," said Jill Renslow, the mall's senior vice president of business development. 

About 400,000 customers flooded into the mall over last year's Black Friday weekend, despite the temporary shutdown on Thanksgiving for the past three years.

Renslow said the closure on Thursday hasn't hurt business, rather there's more energy to the mall's major holiday shopping spree.

"We saw this magic happen three years ago when we did close those doors and open on Black Friday," Renslow said. "[Our employees] were so excited to bring that excitement and that tradition to the guests."

Many of the shoppers at the mall enjoyed a family time on the early Friday morning, including Jamie Elder who came to the mall with her mother. Their hands were full of bags from toy stores for her kids.

"We are going on a Disney cruise so all of our stuff is themed for the Disney Cruise that we're going on in January," said Elder, who has three kids. "We book this like six seven eight months ago probably. It's been hard to keep it a secret."

Gallery

Lifestyle

Jiwon Choi

Author

On the Black Friday morning, tens of thousands of people started early-bird holiday shopping at the Mall of America.

A long line forms in front of the Mall of America on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018

Tony Saunders | MPR News

Customers check out at Ulta at the Mall of America during Black Friday

Shoppers browse at PacSun at the Mall of America on Black Friday

Shoppers check out at Lego Land at the Mall of America on Black Friday

Blank letters to Santa sit on a desk at Macy's during Black Friday

Siri Pakhotama rests outside after waiting in line for hours

On Black Friday, thousands of shoppers pumped for holiday deals at MOA

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