Black Friday kicks off in Portland

David Paape of West Bend holds two items stacked on top of each other as he searches for the back of the checkout line while shopping the Black Friday deals at Kohl’s, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016, in West Bend, Wis. Promotions are increasingly spread throughout November, as traditional retailers try to match more nimble online rivals such as Amazon.

The shopping holiday, which encourages people to buy at small retailers, is a big event for the owners of Stuff, an art and gift store at 316 W. 63rd St.in Brookside.

“I’m a point-and-click person”, she said. Thanksgiving Day totaled $1.93 billion in sales, up 11.5% on past year, slightly lower than the $2 billion anticipated.

Despite the move toward online shopping, stores and malls were crowded with shoppers looking to snag bargains.

Of course, that experience requires a little patience.

Lee Outlets management says they have extended hours all weekend long so shoppers have time to still get door buster deals. You can also check out the stores social media accounts to find special offers and coupons.

“Target was busy, but really organized. The other stores were not as busy”, she said. These ladies were the firsts in line.

Allowing shoppers to stagger the times they hit the stores could have helped with that.

The Latest on Black Friday Holiday shopping (all times Eastern): 1:55 p.m. Macy’s wrestled with some technical issues on its website during one of the most crucial shopping days of the year.

More than 137 million Americans are expected to shop this weekend. The Casons were one of these. She woke at 4 a.m., a 20-year tradition even though most stores she shops at now open on Thanksgiving and not early Friday.

The electronics retailer has had to adapt to “peaks and valleys” in traffic throughout the four-week sprint to Christmas because “the consumer has been trained to shop when the prices are more promotional”, he said. “It’s the best deal I wanted to stand on line for”, he said.

Cason’s excitement was certainly shared across the Isles. In a statement emailed to Seeking Alpha, Amazon added it is on track to exceed last year’s Black Friday sales totals, with devices powered by its Alexa voice-activated technology leading the charge.

“We are definitely having a slow morning”.

It’s going to be an exciting and insane day, say retail workers, some of whom started shifts on Thanksgiving Day.

Almost half plan to shop on Saturday – about one out of four specifically to support Small Business Saturday. “We’ve got to shop for some appliances”. “It’s been like a year since we’ve sold cold-weather apparel”. That was what Danielle Whitley, a sales associate at Simply Elegance in Glynn Place Mall, observed Thursday evening into Friday morning. As a result, more retailers and malls stayed closed on Thanksgiving this year. It also said more than 60% of its online sales came from shoppers using their phones.

“We will be steady for sure”. A similar protest occurred a year ago after the release of a video showing a white police officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald.

“We do like the crowds”, admitted Safa Chaumond.