MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Ryan Aragon knew exactly what he wanted for Christmas, even if he wasn't tall enough to reach it.
"Mom! Mommy!" exclaimed the 3-year-old. "I want that!"
When his mother, Carrie Aragon, reached down to inspect the Fisher Price Imaginext set, she didn't have to push past any other parents on the first official day of the holiday shopping season.
Stocks on the shelves weren't dwindling ? they were overflowing. And several of the checkout lines at the All Seasons store in the Main Exchange complex were empty.
Shoppers weren't flooding Camp Pendleton's Marine Corps Exchanges, but die-hard bargain hunters were on the prowl the day after Thanksgiving.
"There are better deals and a better selection (on base)," Aragon said. "You can't find that much out in town anymore because people take it all. It's not crazy like I saw Wal-Mart on the news."
Stores off base are generally busier for the opening of the holiday season, according to Raymond Gainey, a shoe department worker at the Main Exchange who has previously worked at other retail outlets.
"There's more customers at Wal-Mart and other places than here," Gainey said. "There's more stuff, but by the time you get to the different stores, it's not all gone."
Gainey also revealed where he would rather be for the holiday rush.
"Here," he said with a chuckle.
Angelica McArthur hit the streets early, shopping both in town and at the Marine Corps Exchange before stopping at Hallmark in Pacific Plaza to get wrapping paper for the gifts she'd bought.
"You get the best deals," said McArthur, explaining why she and so many other shoppers hit the bricks the day after Thanksgiving. "Things that normally aren't on sale are today."
McArthur said that although prices off base were better than the exchange, selection on base was better.
She found other differences as well.
"You can be checked out quicker here," she said. "And the exchange has stuff that was out (of stock) at Target."
Shopping on base wasn't just about the best deals or greater selections.
Sarah Roberts, a supervisor at the Home Store, preferred the Main Exchange for a different reason.
"Here, it's the Marine Corps family," said Roberts. "It's giving back."