SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – It’s one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Many people were up early to grab some deals during some Black Friday shopping.

That’s definitely the case at The Empire Mall where people were already ready to shop when it opened.

“Better than last year, we opened at 6 am, same time as last year, really good turn out right out of the gate,” general manager, The Empire Mall, Dan Gies said.

This year the Empire Mall has plenty of new store options for shoppers, including places like Anthropologie and Box Lunch.

“Anthropologie is a big hit, that’s our biggest store that we opened, Box Lunch right across the hallway, we have Offline right next to Box Lunch, really opened a lot of new opportunities, first to market brands,” Gies said.

“We came in early this morning to prep the store because we figured traffic would be great, there were some people in line when we opened the gates up at 6 am,” store manager, Anthropologie, Michelle Duinkerken said.

This is the second year the mall hasn’t been open on Thanksgiving.

Gies says the last couple of year, they see a moderate amount of shoppers right away and builds throughout the day.

“I think we are headed back in the right direction for a traditional Black Friday and our customers like it, the employees get to have a day off and come back refreshed for a big day,” Geis said.

A big day that kicks off the holiday shopping season.

Santa is also at the mall for the holiday season. Kids can get their pictures taken with him through Christmas Eve.