Black Friday shoppers numerous, cautious

BATAVIA, Ill., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Anecdotal evidence suggests that crowds of U.S. Black Friday shoppers were bigger than last year, but many of them spoke of caution, analysts said.

Analysts and retailers told Saturday's Chicago Tribune that appearances suggested crowds were bigger Friday than during last year's post-Thanksgiving sale specials, with 425 shoppers lining up outside the Kohl's store in Batavia, Ill., and 600 people waiting when the doors opened at the Target store in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.

"Retailers are very focused on targeting shoppers rather than simply driving traffic volume into the store and hoping for sales," Karla Martin of consulting firm Booz & Co.'s retail practice told the newspaper. "For Black Friday this year, it's not about shopping, it's about buying."

But some shoppers voiced caution, The Washington Post reported.

"You can't take anything for granted," Barbara Martin, a diabetes educator visiting from Charlottesville, Md., told the Post while waiting for the Best Buy store in Rockville to open. "I'm not stupid enough to think I couldn't lose my job tomorrow. We're going to cut back on spending this year for the holidays by about 75 percent."