“Eastwood is home to many unique retailers’ whose only location is our center,” Eastwood Towne Center General Manager Emily Desrochers said. “These gift card giveaways help make budgets go further and make shopping exciting.”

Leslie, Mich. resident Diane Harper lined up for the gift bags with out-of-town relatives.

“I got a $25 gift card and my sister got one for $50,” Harper said. “But there’s lots of great coupons in here, up to 60 percent off. There’s coupons for free appetizers at some of the (Eastwood Towne Center) restaurants too.”

The gift cards in the bags ranged from $10 to $50 and can be used at any store in the Eastwood Towne Center.

In addition to the gift cards, the bags contained coupons, bottled water, nutrition bars and cookies provided by McAlister’s Deli.

The giveaway is a fairly new tradition, Desrochers said.

“This is only the third year we’ve done this, but this year we’ve seen our biggest turnout so far,” Desrochers said. “It’s just something we started doing to save people money and bring in more early shoppers.”

Stores were recommended to open by 8 a.m., Desrochers said, but many opened earlier — Eastwood stores like Forever 21, GameStop and Banana Republic opened their doors at midnight. Others, like Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works opened by 4 a.m.

On top of potential savings in the gift bags, some businesses like American Eagle and the Gap offered 60 percent off everything in the store.

For Nancy Perkins, who works in the finance office in MSU’s Baker Hall, the Black Friday giveaway was a chance to spend some time with her daughter.

“She always waits with me, we come every year about an hour before they start giving away the wristbands,” said Perkins, who scored a $30 gift card this year. “What’s great about it is that it’s so low key. It’s good savings, but no one’s fighting over anything.”