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Shopping madness begins

Nearly 100 million shoppers were expected to head to stores on Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season in the U.S.

Add that to the millions who shopped Thursday on Thanksgiving, a relatively new phenomenon in the U.S. where the holiday has traditionally been reserved for family meals. In recent years, some major retailers have been opening their doors on the evening of Thanksgiving and staying open all night.

Overall, the National Retail Federation expected about 30 million to shop on Thanksgiving, compared with 99.7 million on Black Friday.

The trade group estimates about 135.8 million people will be shopping during the four-day weekend, compared with 133.7 million last year. And it expects sales overall for November and December to rise 3.7 per cent to $630.5 billion compared with the same period last year.

But people may not be in the mood to shop much this year. Unemployment has settled into a healthy 5 per cent rate, but shoppers still grapple with stagnant wages that are not keeping pace with rising daily costs like rent. And years later, they still insist on the deep discounts they got used to retailers offering during the recession.

Yet again, trend experts say there's no single item that's making shoppers run to stores. Perhaps that's why Ron Waxman, 51, a sports agent from New York, was able to shop with ease on Black Friday morning and find a nearby parking spot at 2 a.m.

"It's quiet very quiet," he said. "This is dead for Black Friday."



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