BLACK Friday started early in the North-East with shoppers staying up late or getting up early to grab a bargain.

Minutes after Tesco Extra, in Newton Aycliffe, closed at midnight so staff could prepare for the Black Friday promotion, the first customers hungry for a deal pulled into the car park.

At the front of the queue, at 12.05am, were retired couple John Rough,64, and Janine Fox, 62, of Newton Aycliffe, who were looking to save on electricals.

The great grandmother said: "It started at midnight last year and I think it should have been the same again this year, there are people who'll miss out because they start work early.

"We have been looking to upgrade our tele so waited for today to save a good hundred pounds."

The Northern Echo:

Retired couple John Rough,64, and Janine Fox, 62, of Newton Aycliffe, grab some bargains at Tesco Extra in Newton Aycliffe.

About three hours later they were joined by dad Karl Kelly, 32, who has been on late shifts at Husqvarna all week but took a holiday to be at the sale.

To avoid the scrum that happened at many stores across the country this time last year, staff at the supermarket took shoppers inside in small groups and directed them towards the items they were after.

It was so civilised this time that one shop assistant even went up and down the queue, which was about 40 people long by opening time at 5am, offering free warm mince pies.

Leaving the store, great grandmother Ms Fox said: "the staff were excellent, they made it really calm and easy this year.

"We saved £200 on a TV, £70 on a soundbar, £30 on a NowTV Box and £150 on a PS4 as a present so we're happy."

Mr Kelly said: "I got a TV last year and got one on a similar deal this year so it's worthwhile, I would have been on nightshift anyway but just stayed up until I was ready to come along. I'm off to bed now though."

The Game shop in Darlington opened to shoppers at 8pm on Thursday evening.

Russell Crooks, the Game store manager, said: “We have all the best deals and we wanted to be absolutely spot on for customers, so we planned very very well.

The Northern Echo:

Queues form outside Fenwick department store in Newcastle this morning, as Black Friday fever fails to catch fire this year with civilised queues and a distinct lack of mad frenzied crowds in contrast to prevous years.

“Last year was the first time we opened and we opened at midnight. We were waiting for three or four hours waiting until 12 o'clock. 

"Around 20 people came this year, there has been a steady stream of people and we’ve sold around 50 machines. This year has been quite a nice, controlled launch."

Game sales assistant Nicholas Bland said: “You do hear a lot of horror stories about Black Friday.

"Last year we were organised but this year we were about three times more organised. Black Friday is lots of fun, it breaks up the week. We sell fun, so we try to have a bit of fun. Customers come in and they are enthusiastic about games and we get to talk about them. We are all gamers ourselves."

Mr Bland said he was most excited about the WWE games which have been slashed from £50 to £30 for Black Friday.

Game in Newcastle's Eldon Square also opened its doors specially tonight to let shoppers in.

Hundreds of stores across the North-East and North Yorkshire will take part in the now annual Black Friday event this week, but only a few - such as Tesco Extra (5am) and Currys PC World (6am) - opened early.

A more popular tactic now used by the stores is to extend the sale period past Friday to include the weekend and beyond.

The Northern Echo:

The queue as Game in Eldon Square opened up

One of the stores using this ploy is Sainsburys.

When asked if they were doing anything special for Black Friday a spokesman told The Northern Echo: “There will be a select number of products on offer throughout the weekend.

"There will also be a modest number of additional deals on smaller, non-food items over a week-long period.”

Rival Morrisons said it would also be offering Black Friday deals all week.

Some stores, including Argos, River Island and Matalan, have even started already with Black Friday offers now available on-line in the run up to the big day.

Not to be outdone, TK Maxx has gone a step further announcing that it is Black Everyday in its stores with offers available all year round.

Others are simply not getting involved.

When asked what it planned, Next said it would not be taking part this year, although a quick glance at its website reveals a limited number of Black Friday offers are available.

Another store that has opted out is Primark with boss George Weston declaring that the event is "pointless" for his company.

Dr Prabash Edirisingha, lecturer in marketing at Northumbria University, said Black Friday was a relatively new concept which had arrived from the US, however he added that retailers here were already adapting the idea to suit UK consumers.

"Black Friday has been embraced by the British consumer since it's arrival, however customers want more long-term deals rather than just saturated deals on one day."

Mr Edirisingha highlighted Asda which announced it was not participating in Black Friday this year following ugly scenes at some of its stores in 2014 with customers battled security guards and each other for offers.

Instead, the store is offering discounts for several weeks in the run up to Christmas.

The lecturer added that the event was not particularly profitable with shops just selling products on one day that they would sell anyone over a long period.

However, said there were other benefits for stores, including raising brand awareness, attracting new customers and rewarding existing ones.