Black Friday Approaches: Shoppers Strategize

Preliminary reports from several major retailers including Macy's and Toys "R" Us said that crowds were at least as large as last year's, but many shoppers sounded notes of caution and concern.

Retailers extended their hours, some opening at midnight, and offered deals that were deeper and wider than the deep discounts that shoppers found throughout November.

Best Buy, which threw its doors open at 5 a.m. offered such specials as a 49-inch Panasonic plasma HDTV for $899.99 and a $189.99 GPS device by Garmin. Toys "R" Us was offering up to 60 percent discounts from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.

But the excitement over the early morning specials proved fatal for at least one store. Police from Nassau County, N.Y. say a Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled by a throng of unruly shoppers shortly after the Long Island store opened Friday. Wal-Mart offiicals would not confirm reports of stampede, but said a "medical emergency" caused them to close the store.

Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman at the National Retail Federation, the industry's largest retail group, said that she was "not aware of any other circumstances where a retail employee has died working on the day after Thanksgiving."

Many consumers, clutching the store circulars, were focused on a few bargains Friday and said they were slashing their overall holiday budgets from a year ago as they juggle paying their rent and other bills while putting food on the table amid layoffs, tightening credit and dwindling retirement accounts.