Black Friday shopping in US marred by violence
Several outbreaks of violence have marred the US Black Friday shopping frenzy, as bargain-hunters besieged malls across the US.
In Chicago police shot an alleged shoplifter; a robber shot a shopper in Las Vegas; and a California police officer was injured in a fight. Black Friday, the day following the Thanksgiving holiday, is the biggest shopping day of the year in the US. This year it began even earlier amid a trend for Thanksgiving openings. Twelve national chains opened their doors on Thursday, advertising aggressive discounts. Pepper spray Some 15,000 shoppers stormed the flagship Macy's in New York City as it opened for the first time ever on Thanksgiving evening. Pointing at the mobbed department store, Brazilian tourist Luis Figueiro told Reuters news agency: "This is madness. "There are so many people here, you can't see any of the things on sale." There were several incidents of retail-related disorder across the US: Workers' groups have protested that the trend towards Thursday opening means retail employees can no longer spend the day at home with their families, which is supposed to be the point of Thanksgiving. Protests Some retail analysts have begun to dub the holiday Black Thanksgiving, or Grey Thursday. Workers held demonstrations on Friday outside Walmart stores in the city of Ontario, California, and in Elgin, Illinois, demanding better pay and conditions. There was anecdotal evidence that the Thursday openings have led to an easing off in consumer footfall on Black Friday itself, though the increased popularity of online shopping could be another factor. By late Friday morning, the number of shoppers in many stores was more typical of a normal Saturday than the usual frenetic start to the holiday season. Downtown Manhattan, for example, was busy, but not at saturation level. The US celebration of Thanksgiving is always marked on the fourth Thursday in November. The day after is known as Black Friday because that was the time of year when retailers began making a profit, or moved out of the red and into the black. Some 97 million Americans hit the shops on Black Friday, according to the National Retail Federation. Last year on the day Americans spent $11.2bn (£6.8bn).