Early start takes frenzy out of Black Friday

The one-day head start to Black Friday appeared to take a bite out of the usual holiday rush, as thinner-than-usual crowds converged on malls and retail stores for what is traditionally the year’s biggest shopping day.

Stores from coast-to-coast opened doors a half-day early and enticed customers with jaw-dropping bargains, turning customary kick-off to the holiday shopping season into a two-day affair.

Online shopping and calls to stay home to protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in a racially-charged shooting near St. Louis also may have contributed to the quieter experience on what has traditionally been the busiest, and sometimes most chaotic, shopping day of the year.

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"It just looks like any other weekend," Angela Olivera, a 32-year old housewife shopping for children's clothing at the Westfarms Mall near Hartford, Conn., told Reuters. "The kind of crowds we usually see are missing and this is one of the biggest malls here. I think people are just not spending a lot."

In sharp contrast to prior years, such as a 2008 incident at a Long Island, N.Y., Walmart, where thousands of people charged through the doors and trampled a temporary employee to death, there were few reports of mayhem Thursday night of early Friday. In one of the few incidents, tame by historical standards, two women got into a fist fight over a Barbie doll at a Norwalk, Calif., Walmart. In INidanapolis, a man was arrested for assaulting an officer after being kicked out of a mall for being rowdy, according to Fox59.

Since 2005, Black Friday has held the crown for the top sales day of the year, according to ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 70,000 stores globally. But that could change this year, and the last Saturday before Christmas may edge out Black Friday as the biggest shopping day of the year, according to experts.

Still, Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, believes the two days will be a close tie. He estimates both sales days will be in the $9 billion range. And Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren told The Associated Press he thinks Black Friday will still be the company's biggest sales day of the year.

Dozens of protesters interrupted Missouri shoppers on Thanksgiving to speak out about a grand jury's decision not to indict the white officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, a black man who had minutes earlier robbed a local store and who witnesses testified had scuffled with Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson before charging at him.

Some retailers moved up the starting time, knowing shoppers will only spend so much, and figuring an early start would give them first crack at grabbing those holiday dollars. Still, millions of Americans are expected to head out in search of steep discounts today, the traditional start to the annual shopping binge.

The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to grow 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion — the highest increase since 2011.

The holiday shopping season is a make-or-break time for many retailers, which can get as much as 20 percent of their annual sales during the time. Already, retailers have resorted to steep discounting to lure shoppers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.