Let the sales begin! Extended hours on Black Friday, this weekend

On the negative side, retail foot traffic is expected to decline about 4 percent, but that's still better than last year's 15 percent drop, according to figures provided by ShopperTrak.

"Consumers are going to react to door-busting sales," Grannis said. "Folks will be going to the mall, but they're not going to all the stores."

Instead, customers will focus on a few select stores, she said.

Then, there are the social shoppers. They wake up between 4 and 6 a.m., then head to the mall with friends or family.

For these shoppers, Black Friday is a social activity with live music, crowds lining up to see Santa Claus and some great deals mixed in.

The Black Friday trend over the last two years is to "shop in teams, it's like a little party," said Gilson, with the PREIT malls.

Some groups of women wear matching T-shirts, or shop in their PJs and comfy slippers, she said.

More young men are taking part in Black Friday's early-morning hours, Gilson said. (That's why the mall began to offer Red Bull, she said.)

"There's an added value of the social atmosphere that you may not find on a typical shopping day," she said.