Shoppers pack stores early on Black Friday

Jenny Jeschke, 18, of West Dundee walks along the sidewalk at Algonquin Commons around 6 a.m. this morning. Jeschke stood in line for an Algonquin Commons giftbag which had a $5 giftcard and coupons in it. (Danielle Guerra Photo)

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CRYSTAL LAKE – A bit of yellow caution tape to the neck was the only casualty a McHenry mother-daughter team experienced on Black Friday.

The "power-shopping duo," as daughter Wendy Moran called them, wrapped up their annual tradition by 8:30 a.m. Although Moran had earlier been slapped in the face by caution tape while a Walmart employee was lifting it for her and other early morning crowds outside the McHenry store, she felt accomplished.

She and her mother, Diana Pierce, had finished all their Christmas shopping in less than five hours.

"Now we gotta hide everything," Moran said, laughing as she tossed one last item from the Crystal Lake Toys R Us into her car's trunk.

Shoppers across the nation gathered at stores and malls in the wee hours Friday, some after spending the night waiting in line, to grab early morning deals and hard-to-find items.

Retailers expanded their hours and offered deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs in hopes of getting consumers, many of whom are worried about high unemployment and tight credit, to open their wallets.

A number of stores, including Walmart and many Old Navy locations, opened on Thanksgiving, hoping to make the most of the extra hours. Toys R Us opened most of its stores just after midnight Friday.

Beginning at 3:30 a.m., Pierce and Moran picked up gifts at several McHenry County stores, including Kohl's, Sears, Target, Kmart, and Best Buy. The McHenry Target was the most packed, Pierce said.

"I don't think there were too many people out this year," she said, adding that most stores seemed more organized than the last Black Friday.

Nationally, worries about jobs were on top of shoppers' minds as they focused on big bargains on TVs and practical gifts.

With unemployment at 10.2 percent, many analysts expect that total holiday sales will be at best about even from a year ago. Optimism rose in early fall as shoppers spent a little more, but stores say they've seen a sales slowdown since Halloween, putting merchants more on edge.

Black Friday gets its name because it traditionally was the day when huge crowds would push stores into "the black," or profitability. But the weekend doesn't provide a forecast for the rest of the season, which accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual sales and profits for many stores.