Black Friday

Shoppers stormed Southland malls Friday in a quest for discounted merchandise, some getting into fights as they rushed to nab cheap electronics and video games. "This is overwhelming -- the amount of people, the rush -- I love it," said Anthony Howard, 25, who was pushing a shopping cart full of toys minutes after the doors opened at midnight at a Toys R Us store near Glendale. "It's all about getting that last toy right before somebody else grabs it." The usual day-after-Thanksgiving excitement turned chaotic at a Wal-Mart store in Rancho Cucamonga, where police were called after shoppers began fighting over a Rock Band video game package, company spokesman Dave Tovar said.

Here I'm thinking Chargers Coach Norv Turner has problems, and I have two daughters who are standing in line Thanksgiving night so they might be some of the first to begin shopping on Black Friday. I'm so proud. Did you know Sears had a great sale beginning at 4 a.m.? They did. Here I'm thinking about those poor losers in San Diego who are Chargers fans, and I have a daughter dressed in a Tim Tebow jersey sitting in Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday. "Best time ever," she texts, and she's an accountant so it's understandable.

Holiday shopper Thanety Bunseam was reluctant to buy anything big this year, but a few days ago the 57-year-old factory worker could be seen resting on the curb outside a Best Buy store with his quarry: a 52-inch LCD TV and a new Sony PS3 game console. "I got it free with the TV," he said, pointing to the PS3. "They have the game with the TV, so now I buy." FOR THE RECORD: Retail sales: An article in Thursday's Business section about sales during the week of Nov. 22 through Nov. 28 said the amount spent by shoppers on consumer electronic items was $1.2 billion.

Drawn by heavy promotions and earlier-than-ever opening times, shoppers swarmed the malls on Black Friday weekend and handed retailers a good start to the holiday season. A record number of people headed to stores and shopped online from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, spending more than last year on presents and indulging in some items for themselves. They rang up an estimated $52.4 billion in sales during the four-day weekend, up from $45 billion last year, the National Retail Federation said Sunday.

Despite huge crowds fueled by heavy discounts, shoppers spent less on average on Black Friday and weren't able to give retailers the big boost they were hoping for. Sales on the day after Thanksgiving rose just 0.5% to $10.66 billion, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a research firm that monitors sales at more than 50,000 stores. That compared with a 3% year-over-year Black Friday increase in 2008 and an 8.3% surge in 2007. "It's a positive sign that we had an increase in sales, but the numbers certainly don't indicate that those will be sustained," said Britt Beemer, chairman of consumer behavior firm America's Research Group.

One of the biggest shopping days of the year could be more bleak than black. Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, known in the retail trade as Black Friday, stores extend their hours and offer "door-buster" red-tag specials on a wide selection of merchandise. And this Friday, bargains are going to be even more plentiful and seductive.

Call it Gray Friday. Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, has lost a bit of its luster as hungry retailers try to stretch the one-day shopping bacchanal on the day after Thanksgiving into a weeklong bonanza. Big chains including Sears and Toys R Us have joined Wal-Mart and Kmart in offering Thanksgiving Day hours. Others have already begun hawking massive discounts and pushing online deals. And to keep the party going past Friday, many retailers will offer fresh discounts Saturday and Sunday.

You might have seen the promo. "So Thrilling. So Explosive. So Brash. So Bold. So Fresh. So Fox." And now it must be said of the Fox News affiliate in Los Angeles: So diminished. So wretched. So . . . so. Executives at Channel 11 announced the layoff of roughly one-quarter of the news staff a couple of weeks ago, a "Black Friday" bloodletting that had veteran reporter John Schwada regretting the loss of "a lot of good young people, with energy and dreams."

Whether the New England Patriots or the New York Giants win the Super Bowl this weekend, television buyers will be the ones scoring big. Retailers have been slashing prices on big-screen HDTVs ahead of the big game, and are throwing in extras such as free delivery and installation, offers to pay the sales tax and complimentary Blu-ray players and 3-D glasses to attract customers. "Consumers right now can definitely benefit," said Lisa Hatamiya, a research associate at market research firm IHS iSuppli, which tracks television sales data and trends.

Today is Black Friday, when holiday shopping hordes descend on malls across the country, and retailers hope to turn a profit as their accounting books transition from red ink to black. This year, Black Friday comes two months after Global Overshoot Day, when our planet's accounts — the ones that measure human demand on the planet's services that support our economies — transitioned the other direction, from black to red. Each year our planet can produce a certain amount of resources and absorb a certain amount of use — nature's budget for the year.

Our family Thanksgiving celebration didn't come off exactly as planned. We'd imagined a long-postponed reunion of siblings, aunties and cousins from around the country, gathered at my brother's grand new home in Palo Alto. But circumstances conspired to unravel that plan. Some East Coast relatives were forced to back out by sky-high airfares, unexpected medical bills and budget-choking college tuition hikes. One cousin just lost a job; one is allowed no time off at his new one. Another was grounded by worries that looming foreclosure might make this the last Thanksgiving his family will celebrate in their own home.

A better future Re "A teen's heavy load," Column One, Nov. 18 Thank you for the incredibly important biography of a real member of the 99% — a sad story, albeit an inspiration for those brave, hardworking young students who are expected to do more for their families than they should have to. Miriam Hernandez is the type of citizen I — and I hope others — would want to see make up the 100%. Rather than sitting on dying grass, doing yoga and blurting out non sequiturs about one's personal cause, Hernandez is fighting the good, honest fight to change our country for the better, for people like her and for everyone who cannot relate to her or even support her. Miriam Hernandez, I applaud you. Seth Clyde-Hamilton Gold Woodland Hills What we aren't paying for Re "Pay it forward, Californians," Editorial, Nov. 19 I was born in 1940, and I am ashamed of my generation.

An early kickoff to the holiday shopping season appeared to pay off for retailers, who bet correctly that extended late-night hours would draw even more bargain hunters to the annual Black Friday extravaganza. The shopping frenzy, although marred by a pepper spray incident at a San Fernando Valley Wal-Mart, bodes well for increased consumer spending as the year draws to a close. It would be the latest in a series of modest improvements to an economy still trying to shake free from the lingering effects of the devastating recession of 2007-09.

If shopping is a sport, does that mean you can burn serious calories doing it? Yes, and that's good news to all you Black Friday and weekend shoppers hitting the stores. An average 150-pound person can burn about 470 to 500 calories in three hours shopping -- not too shabby and no doubt needed after yesterday's turkey, stuffing and pie, which, for some, totaled thousands of calories. But you augment that by thinking of your shopping expedition as a workout sans gym. We spoke with Studio City-based personal trainer Robert Reames of Gold's Gym Fitness Institute about how to maximize those hours in the mall.

We like to think that the holidays bring out the best in us, that they are like the feasts and festivals of our archaic past, when we celebrated a successful hunt or a bountiful harvest. So why do we treat Black Friday — when the season to be jolly officially commences with ritualized ferocity — as the occasion for serious lamentations about the "commercialization of Christmas" and the moral emptiness of the mall? You already know the answer: because consumerism is bad for us. But that's not really the case.

Southern California didn't get a big Thanksgiving storm, but that didn't stop area ski resorts from opening for those craving early powder. Mammoth and Lake Tahoe areas are open too. But this early in the season, it's always best to check conditions online before you head out. All-day tickets at Bear Mountain and Snow Summit sold out Friday, but skiers and riders can make reservations  online for Saturday ($49 for adults for an all-day lift...

Retailers are doing whatever it takes to lure shoppers to the malls today. Desperate to avoid a repeat of last year's disastrous holiday season, stores are offering freebies, slashing prices and using social media to promote their deals. With hopes pinned on the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional kickoff to the Christmas season, many planned to open well before dawn. "Black Friday will be a very key day for us," said Mike Taxter, an executive vice president at J.C. Penney Co. and director of JCPenney stores, which are offering 15% more specials than last year.

Today is Black Friday, when holiday shopping hordes descend on malls across the country, and retailers hope to turn a profit as their accounting books transition from red ink to black. This year, Black Friday comes two months after Global Overshoot Day, when our planet's accounts — the ones that measure human demand on the planet's services that support our economies — transitioned the other direction, from black to red. Each year our planet can produce a certain amount of resources and absorb a certain amount of use — nature's budget for the year.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals could be great opportunities to lock in sale prices for next year's vacations. Whether it's a safari to Africa or a getaway to Santa Barbara, you can shop around among the hotels, cruise lines, tour operators and others that are diving into the seasonal sale game. A tip: Check Twitter and Facebook for exclusive offers that are likely to hit this weekend. Here are some travel sales I think are worth a look. Abercrombie & Kent: High-end travel outfitter A&K gives travelers more than a day to contemplate its sale on trips to Italy, India, Jordan, Kenya and more.