Cautious Black Friday shoppers flock to stores

updated 7:37 p.m. ET Nov. 28, 2008

NEW YORK - Shoppers, who had snapped their wallets shut since September, turned out in force Friday to grab early morning deals and hard-to-find toys like Elmo Live, but many said worries about the economy have them focusing on fewer gifts and less expensive, more practical items.

Meanwhile, the start of the shopping season proved deadly at both a Wal-Mart store in Valley Stream, N.Y., and a Toys “R” Us store in Palm Desert, Calif.

A temporary Wal-Mart worker died after a throng of unruly shoppers broke down the doors and trampled him moments after the store opened early Friday, police said.

Nassau County police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart store doors at the mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the man to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.

“This crowd was out of control,” said Nassau police spokesman Lt. Michael Fleming. He described the scene as “utter chaos.” Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a “tragic situation” and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

A shooting inside the Toys “R” Us killed two people, authorities said, though it was not clear whether it involved any shopping frenzy.

Heavily discounted merchandise
Elsewhere at malls and stores, it was the usual hectic start of the season, as crowds of shoppers frantically picked through piles of discounted merchandise.

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“It was like everything we bought was already on sale and was an additional 50 percent off at the register,” said Lynn Mahloy of Snellville, Ga., who arrived at Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall just after 6 a.m. on the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. But she’s slashing her holiday budget to about $1,000 this year from about $2,500 in past years because of economic worries.

“I’m just buying smaller, less expensive presents,” added Mahloy, who had bags filled with sweaters, shirts and dresses.

Preliminary reports from major retailers including Macy’s, KB Toys Inc., Best Buy Co. and Toys “R” Us and mall operators like Taubman Centers Inc. said the crowds were at least as large as last year’s. But analysts said sales Friday may not match the year-ago levels as Americans, worried about layoffs, dwindling retirement accounts, and tightening credit, slash their holiday budgets, even for their own children.

I’ve always filled the tree. But you have to be honest,” said Shannon Keane, 38, of Cary, N.C. a single mother who was recently laid off from her job. “This year, I’ll do the best I can.” She was out with her 13-year-old son, Miles, at a local Wal-Mart, buying one item: an iPod.

“He really wanted this one thing,” Keane said. “So we’re here for this one thing.”

And while the steep price cuts — which were even more aggressive than the deep discounting offered throughout the month — are great for consumers, such moves are expected to depress sales and profits in a season that many believe could show a rare contraction in spending, according to Janet Hoffman, managing partner of the North American retail practice of Accenture.

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