Associated Press

North Dakota shoppers poured into the stores early on the day after Thanksgiving, many of them with few worries about the leaner financial times around the country.

"Nope. Not here. Not unless oil falls below $40 a barrel," Heather Bashus, 36, of Bismarck, said as she waited in line at Old Navy store shortly after 4 a.m. today, hoping to be one of the first 50 people inside so she could nab one of the free MP3 players the store was giving away. "We're kind of in our own insulated bubble here."

Nationally, retailers are wary of what the dismal economic outlook will mean for the holiday shopping season. But in North Dakota, the economy has been buoyed by an oil boom in the western part of the state and a couple of good years in agriculture. State lawmakers expect to convene in January with a record budget surplus of more than $1 billion.

North Dakota State University student Matt Rothschiller, 21, of Bismarck, who joked that "my older sister" was the reason he was out shopping in the early morning hours today, was aware of the larger financial picture.

"But I'm still a college student," he said. "It's not really going to stop me from coming out and buying what I want, or what other people want (for gifts)."

Black Friday, named because it was often the sales-packed day when retailers would become profitable for the year, is the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season. While it isn't a predictor of holiday season sales, the day after Thanksgiving is an important barometer of people's willingness to spend.

Brooke Wiedrich, 24, of Mandan, who was one of the first shoppers inside a Bismarck Kohl's store when it opened at 4 a.m. today, said she has a friend who lost a job recently, and she expects to spend a little less this year on Christmas gifts.

"That's why I'm out looking for the better deals," she said as she loaded packages into her car in the parking lot on a frosty morning with the temperature in the teens.