JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times

Shoppers grab shopping carts and baskets as they make their way into Target at 5 a.m. Friday in Roanoke.

The need for crowd control escalates when hundreds of shoppers flock to one store in a short period of time.

That's why some retailers made changes this year in the way that they usher in large groups of deal-hunting shoppers on Black Friday, which is ranked as one of the top three busiest days of the holiday season.

This is especially important after a Walmart employee in New York was trampled to death last year on Black Friday.

But even the best crowd-control methods did not prevent tempers from flaring in the Roanoke Valley on Friday, which marked the start of the holiday shopping season.

Toys R Us in Roanoke was flooded with more than 2,000 shoppers when the store opened its doors at midnight on Thursday.

By 1:30 a.m., the store had exceeded its capacity. Police stopped letting people into the store until others left, Roanoke Fire-EMS spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury said.

Several arguments broke out at the toy store near Valley View Mall, but there were no physical fights and no one was arrested, said Lt. James Fazio of the Roanoke Police Department.

The Roanoke Target put up chains in some of the main aisles to help shoppers stay in line and to quicken the check-out process, said Steve Porter, a store manager.

But about a half-hour after Target's 5 a.m. opening on Friday, long lines of customers waiting to make purchases snaked down several aisles to the back of the store.

Jessica Ferebee couldn't deal with the lines.

"I pushed my buggy to the side and left," said Ferebee, 29. "I'm not doing that."

She retreated to nearby Best Buy, where she ended up waiting in another line with her family for a computer.

Also, this year, Target placed popular doorbuster items throughout the store to prevent overcrowding in certain departments.

iPods were available at the jewelry counter, while portable DVD players were on display in the children's clothing area.

Still, Target's electronics department was so packed with shoppers and red carts early Friday morning that it was nearly impossible for people to move through those aisles.

"People are grabbing my hair and touching all over me," said Brittany Trent, 21, who emerged from an aisle with a disgusted look on her face.

"I just moved," she said, frustrated that she could not pick out any Nintendo DS games.