With some stores opening earlier than ever Friday — the Auburn Walmart at 12:01 a.m., Kohl’s at 3 a.m., JC Penney and Sears at 4 a.m. — anticipation is growing.

So are the deals, and the number of shoppers expected out before the sun rises on Black Friday.

“National surveys show traffic is going to be up Friday compared to last year,” said Jim McConnon, University of Maine economics professor and UMaine Cooperative Extension specialist.

This year, the spending spree that preceded the Great Recession won’t return. But consumers are expected to spend a little more.

Nationally consumers are projected to spend 2.3 percent more than last year, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s an improvement from last year, when holiday spending increased four-tenths of one percent from the previous year. In 2008 there was a 3.9 percent decline.

McConnon doesn’t expect Mainers to spend as much as the projected national average. Unemployment in Maine is still high at 7 percent. Thousands are underemployed. Some companies that have seen profitability return have been cautiously slow to hire. And consumer confidence remains weak, he said.

Despite that, “retailers are likely to see improvement from last year,” he said. Personal income rose 2.6 percent in the first two quarters of this year nationally, as did retail spending. There’s some optimism, he said.

This year more stores have posted Black Friday deals online and are offering pre-Black Friday sales. More shoppers are buying online and earlier.

But people still like to hit the stores, McConnon said. “It has become part of the American culture, going out and battling the crowds.” People get together with friends and family. “There are deals to be had.”

Spending is an important part that drives the economy, unless it gets to the point where consumers spend more than they have, which happened before the recession began in 2007.

A majority of consumers learned lessons from the recession, McConnon said. They’re not spending as much and are shopping smarter, a big reason for the growing Black Friday crowds.

Retailers’ inventory is up slightly from last year, but not a lot. Retailers are also being careful so they’re not stuck with merchandise that doesn’t move.

“Consumers interested in a certain product line don’t want to wait too long,” he said.

Like newspapers across the country, the Sun Journal will be heavy Thanksgiving morning with advertising supplements.

“We’re going to have 31 inserts in the paper. It will weigh 2.6 pounds,” said Jim Costello Jr., vice president of operations for Sun Media.

Production will begin an hour early Wednesday night, and production will be slower. “It’s maxing our equipment,” the grippers and belts that move inserts into the newspaper, Costello said.

Newspaper sales increase on Thanksgiving, he said. Readers go through the store inserts plotting their shopping.

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