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Black Friday shoppers chase discounts

Shoppers packed the area's mall and big box stores today, lured by the promise of deep discounts as the holiday shopping season officially got under way.

Seasoned Black Friday shopper Danielle Verdes of Haverford, center, hooks up with her cousin Megan Charitonchick, right, as she shops with her mother Joyce McQuaid, left, in the Banana Republic store at the Court at the King of Prussia Mall. Megan stood in line while Danielle and her mother shopped, bringing Megan items to buy as they found them. (Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer)
Seasoned Black Friday shopper Danielle Verdes of Haverford, center, hooks up with her cousin Megan Charitonchick, right, as she shops with her mother Joyce McQuaid, left, in the Banana Republic store at the Court at the King of Prussia Mall. Megan stood in line while Danielle and her mother shopped, bringing Megan items to buy as they found them. (Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer)Read more

Shoppers packed the area's mall and big box stores today, lured by the promise of deep discounts as the holiday shopping season officially got under way.

And from the looks of things, they were buying.

After giving up sleep and fueling themselves with coffee and energy drinks, bargain hunters ventured into night to start their Black Friday quests.

Many arrived at their destinations hours before the doors opened and together they waited to join the rush that gave name to what the stores call "doorbuster bargains."

At the King of Prussia Mall, the one big sign consumers were out to shop - bags in their hands - was everywhere.

Tracy Sondesky, of Conshohocken, was making her fourth trip to the car at 9 a.m., carrying two enormous bags from Lord & Taylor's and Macy's.

"I went to Target at 4, and then here since 5," Sondesky said. She bought two gifts at 60 percent off at Target and had come to King of Prussia to load up in discounted goodies for everyone else in the family, including her two children.

"It's crazy in there," she said, adding the crowd seemed much bigger this year than last year.

Kathy Smith, the mall's marketing manager, supported that observation.

She said the customer count was up 25 percent over last year, another encouraging sign that "people are happy."

At the Kohl's in Washington Township, Theresa Cowgill, 42, a teacher's aid from Gloucester City, was the first person in line when the doors opened at 3 a.m.

She and daughter, Rachael, 16, claimed their spot at 11 p.m. They were after a couple of down comforters normally priced over $100.

"If I was there 10 minutes later I probably would not gave gotten one," she said.

Cowgill also snagged a coat for her son and a dog bed, spending $66 and saving $196, she said.

Cowgill said she is not a big shopper during the rest of the year but likes to take advantage of the deals. The two planned to nap this afternoon and venture out again tonight.

"It's my official start to the holiday," she said.

Joann Nagel, 54, of Collingswood was new to the Black Friday rush and a bit timid.

During the early morning rush at the Target in Cherry Hill, she said, "I wanted a GPS but I had to stand in the same line as people pushing the big TVs."

A trip to The Christmas Tree Shops, where the lines were only a few people deep soon after opening at 5 a.m., was more successful.

Nagel, who works in human resources at the Camden County prosecutor's office, stocked up on wrapping paper and gift boxes and bought a granddaughter her first stocking. Nagel said the deals - 20% off at this store - were a draw during the down economy. But she came more for the experience.

"I've never shopped in the middle of the night," she said.

Jeaneen Davis, 34, of Moorestown cut her Christmas budget by as much as half last year and shopped her first Black Friday. She is planning on spending about the same this year. But, she said, she thinks the money is going farther.

She bought bikes at Wal-Mart for $39, she said. And she and Luther Lewis, 40, left Kmart in Moorestown with a cart full of toys and pajamas for their three children.

"Today really helps," she said.

On West Walnut Street in Center City, shoppers filled stores early, but had to deal with a dilemma if they came by car: No parking rules remained in effect until 10 a.m.

Up to 138 million people are expected to shop today, Saturday and Sunday, an increase of some 4 million shoppers over last year, according to research performed for a major retail industry trade group.

The Associated Press report that early signs pointed to a solid Black Friday turnout.

Customers are being lured to stores this weekend in greater numbers through e-mails and promotions over such social networking sites as Facebook and Twitter, according to data cited by the National Retail Federation.

This year, several retailers even opened on Thanksgiving, to beat competitors to the Black Friday punch. That stole the thunder of retailers who, in recent years, had begun opening at midnight or before dawn to grab shoppers' attention with limited-time-only sales known as so-called "doorbusters."

The NRF predicts a slight bump in sales this holiday season over the last two years, which suffered at the hands of steep unemployment, the stock market crash and the global economic downturn. The group's forecast calls for a 2.3 percent increase in sales totaling $447.1 billion this November and December compared to the same period last year.

With unemployment still well above 9 percent nationally, and economists uncertain about the pace or trajectory of a recovery after the 2008 global financial crisis and recession, the Black Friday outlook this holiday season was not uniformly robust, either.

A different survey, by Consumer Reports, found that fewer people would be out shopping today through Monday: 102 million Americans, which is about 16 million fewer than last year.

Of course, retailers are expected to hold plenty of sales to attract customers who are still very dollar-conscious. But by the same token, companies cannot afford to just give away their merchandise or be left with a lot of unsold goods at the end of the season that have to be marked down at the expense of profits.

The trade group said retailers, who were burned by this in years past, were focusing on measures to protect against that.

But even as more people were expected at actual stores this weekend, numbers were to be on the rise in online shopping, too. Holiday sales hit websites as early as Halloween, and nearly two-thirds of retailers (63.8%) said in a recent survey that they expected their online sales to increase by fifteen percent or more this holiday season, the NRF said.

By far the most popular items to be purchased today and over the next few days, according to a Consumer Reports poll, are electronics (75 percent of shopper), including video games, and clothing (72 percent).

And shoppers who do make it out over the next few days will use their cell phones for more than calling home: About a third will use them to kill time while waiting in line or while shopping with friends and family, about one in five will use them to compare prices, and 12 percent will make purchases with their phones, according to Consumer Reports.