Before Black Friday shopping can commence, the two Bs must be accomplished: babysitter and bang.

“We get a babysitter, get a bang, and we go,” said Shawna Landry with a chuckle as she steered her shopping cart toward the hunting aisle of Academy Friday morning. 

The “bang” is an energy drink.

“Babysitter and bang and we’re good,” sister Shay Crochet said. “That’s it. That’s the secret.”

The pair have made Black Friday shopping their tradition the past nine years. Friday was no different.

“We like to Black Friday shop, but we don’t get crazy like other people do,” Landry said. “We don’t wake up early, we take our time and just have fun.”

Black Friday shopping has been a beloved eight-year tradition for Dina Pierson and her daughter, Alex — except for that one year.

“Our scariest memory was when we got separated in Walmart and she had both of our phones so I couldn’t call her,” Dina said. “I didn’t know her phone number by heart, either. I borrowed someone’s phone, but I kept calling the wrong number.”

They laugh about it now.

The pair, who said they typically wake before daybreak to Black Friday shop, set the alarms for 7 a.m. this year. 

“We’d go as long as we could, go home and take a nap, then go back out again,” Dina said. “This year, we’ll just grab lunch when we’re tired.”

Their game plan is simple — go where the sales are. 

“Whatever the hot item is, we head there first. This year, though, we’re flying by the seat of our pants,” Dina said. “We’re finding great deals, lots of half-priced items — especially on toys for the grandbabies,” Dina said. 

Debbie Moore and daughter Tiffany Lantz were taking it easy shopping this year, too. 

“With the stores not having sale ads this year, it made things a little bit harder. We weren’t sure what would be on sale until we got here,” Moore said as she combed through sweatshirts looking for just the right size Friday morning at Walmart on the Bayou on U.S. 171. “We can find the bigger items that we wouldn’t typically be able to find while Black Friday shopping.”

“There’s not as many people out in the stores today, which makes it a bit easier,” Lantz said. “We can find parking, we can find buggies, there’s no lines; but it doesn’t feel like Black Friday shopping because of that.”

“The aisles are usually packed; today they’re not,” Moore added. 

The mother-daughter duo said they previously brought a grandchild or two with them when shopping to stand in line for the first-come, first-served electronic items.

“One year, I put them in the TV line so they would each get one,” Moore said with a laugh. “Now, they’re like, ‘I don’t want to come anymore just to stand.’ ”

This year ­— like it years past — their shared buggy was full as they made their way to the checkout line. 

“We got a little bit more than what we planned — just like when we grocery shop,” Moore said with a laugh.