My wife and I went out yesterday mid-afternoon to Wal-Mart and picked up the toys/games we were getting for the grandson, along with a few other things that we knew we were getting. None of the stuff will probably be on sale, and we wanted to be sure to get the toy stuff before it started disappearing. Very relaxed, very few people around, nice. We actually had some time to look around and research some things we're thinking about for others and for ourselves.
I might head up to the outlet mall on my way home from work, as I assume traffic will not be too bad with the holiday weekend keeping the work folks off the road, and later in the day the crowds should be a little lighter. I have nothing I HAVE to get, other than a couple of beers and whatever is drastically reduced. I can leave it or take it -that's not so bad.
Otherwise, no, I wouldn't fight the early crowds. Ugh.