A crowd of as many as 300 people stormed through the doors of the Kmart store in Pinole, hoping to take advantage of door-buster bargains ahead of the traditional Black Friday rush.

Store manager Tony Gutierrez told KTVU the crowd this year was much larger than when his store opened on Thanksgiving last year.

“I saw more people this year than last year,” he said. “Last year it was very slow. This year, we had over 300 people waiting.”

Among the bargains awaiting the early shoppers were a 32-inch LCD TV for $97 and a DVD player for $9.99.

Kmart was among a handful of Bay Area retailers who were jumping the gun on what has been the busiest shopping day of the year – Black Friday.

Local Wal-Marts, Sears and Toys “R” Us stores were all set to open at 8 p.m. Target was opening its stores at 9 p.m. and two of the Bay Area’s largest malls were set to open at 10 p.m.

Among the most unique Black Friday discounts being offered this year by Petco which was has half-price door-busters on all its reptiles.

The same retail frenzy was underway across the country both in stores and online.

Early data from IBM Smarter Commerce show that as of noon EST, online sales for Thanksgiving are up 14.3 percent from last year, with just over a quarter of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 15.8 percent in 2011.

That has put pressure on brick-and-mortar stores, who can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue during the two-month holiday shopping season, to compete. That's becoming more difficult: the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, estimates that overall sales in November and December will rise 4.1 percent this year to $586.1 billion, or about flat with last year's growth. But the online part of that is expected to rise 15 percent to $68.4 billion, according to Forrester Research.

As a result, brick-and-mortar retailers are trying everything they can to lure consumers into stores by making shopping as easy as possible. In addition to expanding their hours into Thanksgiving, many are offering free layaways and shipping, matching the cheaper prices of online rivals and updating their mobile shopping apps with more information.

Michael Prothero, 19, and his friend, Kenny Fullenlove, 21, have been camped outside a Best Buy store in Toledo, Ohio, since Monday night, waiting to get 40-inch televisions, some video games and a low-priced tablet computer mainly for relatives. They came early to make sure they got the deals, even though the next person in line didn't arrive until almost 24 hours later.

"Better safe than sorry," Prothero said.

They know they'll miss Thanksgiving dinner with their families, but say it's worth it.

"Every retailer wants to beat everyone else," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, a research firm based in Charleston, S.C. "Shoppers love it."

Retailers are hoping that the Thanksgiving openings will draw shoppers who prefer to head to stores after their turkey dinner rather than braving the crowds early the next morning. Overall, about 17 percent of shoppers plan to take advantage of Thanksgiving hours, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs survey of 1,000 consumers conducted from Nov. 15 to Nov. 18. Last year, that figure was 16 percent.

For Black Friday, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year, 33 percent intend to shop that day, slightly down from 34 percent in 2011.

For 11 people in a four-tent encampment outside a Best Buy store near Ann Arbor, Mich., a super deal on a 40-inch Toshiba LCD television is worth missing Thanksgiving dinner at home.

Jackie Berg, 26, of Ann Arbor, arrived first with her stepson and a friend Wednesday afternoon, seeking three of the televisions. On Black Friday, Best Buy is selling them for $179, $240 less than the normal price, so Berg would save more than $700.

It's her first time camping out for the specials, and she's not sure she will do it again. Relatives will bring her some holiday dinner, but she'll miss eating her dad's stuffing right as he cooks it.

"We'll miss the actual being there with family, but we'll have the rest of the weekend for that," she said.

But not everyone likes the idea of Turkey Day shopping. Some retailers that are opening on Thanksgiving face criticism from workers who complain that the holiday should be a time for everyone to spend with their family.

A New York-based union-backed group of retail workers called Retail Action Project is planning protests in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Thanksgiving in front of several stores, including AnnTaylor, Forever 21 and others that are opening at midnight on Black Friday and earlier.

"It shows that the companies are not valuing their workers. They're looking to their workers to squeeze out more profits," said Carrie Gleason, director of Retail Action Project.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has been one of the biggest targets of protests against holiday hours. The issue is part of a broader campaign against the company's treatment of workers that's being waged by a union-backed group called OUR Walmart, which includes former and current workers. It's staging demonstrations and walkouts at hundreds of stores on Black Friday.