Black Friday Sales: Let the Shopping Begin

Nov. 26, 2010— -- Bleary-eyed shoppers lined up before dawn today to push their way into stores across the nation, kicking off the annual Black Friday retail ritual.

No serious incidents were reported, unilke two years ago when a Walmart worker was trampled to death in Long Island, N.Y. WKBW reported that when the doors opened at a North Buffalo, N.Y., Target at 4a.m. the crowd turned into a chaotic mob as they charged through the doors. Some shoppers fell down, causing a pile-up that was untangled a few minutes later. The fallen brushed themselves off and continued to shop.

Mall and superstore parking lots were reported jammed in many parts of the country. They were all waiting to get a shot at the marked-down doorbuster deals.

In New York, when Macy's flagship store at Herald Square opened at 4 a.m. 7,000 people were waiting to get in. Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren told ABC News that he's optimistic this holiday period. "The pace is strong, a lot of shopping bags traveling around the store, so I feel very good so far," he said.

As the economy improves and people feel more secure in their jobs, pent-up demand will be unleashed, he says.

Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for MGD Group, was out with the crowds at 3 a.m. He told "Good Morning America" today that there's a method to the madness of Black Friday shoppers.

"If you wait too long and think the deals are going to get bettter and better and better, they're really not," he said. Retailers are conservative in what they buy, so the longer your wait, the higher the chance of getting the picked-over merchandise.

In suburban malls, it seemed that the early crowd would settle for no less than a smashing bargain.

"I'm looking at the TV and it says save $70 and I'm like, come on, you've got to be kidding," Sanjay Patil told Reuters as he waited outside a Best Buy Co in Princeton, New Jersey, along with about 50 other bargain hunters before midnight, even though the electronics retailer said stores open at 5 a.m.

"If it's Black Friday, it has to be 100 or 120 bucks savings minimum."

Here are some of the best Black Friday bargains to check out:

There are some jaw-dropping deals for internet connected Blu-Ray hi-def DVD players. They can play discs and stream movies off the Internet from websites like Netflix and Vudu.

While you are at Staples, you can pick up an HP 20 inch widescreen LCD monitor for $99.98, down from $149.98.