Black Friday Sees Strong Crowds, Picky Shoppers

It will take a few days for the Black Friday sales numbers to be crunched, but early indications show a decent, if unspectacular, shopping day. A retailer trade group reported "strong crowds" across the board, notes Bloomberg, with high-def TVs, laptops, winter coats, and those ubiquitous Zhu Zhu hamsters the best-sellers.

A note of caution is sounded from the Wall Street Journal, however, which notes that shoppers seemed to be sticking to heavily discounted items instead of opening their wallets wider once inside stores. That could ultimately prove disappointing to the bottom line. In fact, analysts tell the New York Times they've never seen Americans shop so strategically. “If it’s at full price, nobody’s even looking at the stuff,” says one.
(More Black Friday stories.)