Hundreds of thousands of U.S. shoppers converged on stores Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year.
The holiday gift-buying season began at 5 a.m. local time at many malls and big box discount stores across the nation, CNN reported.
"There were lines three to four people deep for about 100 yards outside Sears and KB Toys at 5 a.m.," said Jeff Odom, marketing director with Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, one of Tennessee's largest malls. "It looks like this year people are out much earlier than last year."
The upper Midwest showed little signs of job losses due to outsourcing or dying industries.
The Fairlane Town Center Mall in Dearborn, Mich., was packed before dawn.
"The mall opened its doors at 5:00 a.m. but there were already about 600 people waiting at each entrance," Karen MacDonald, spokeswoman for mall operator Taubman Centers, told CNN. "We have reports that the first person got here at 3:30 a.m."
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
