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Enthusiastic Black Friday begins Thursday evening

Sales are expected to increase this year over last year.

By Ed Adamczyk

CHICAGO, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Black Friday shopping began in earnest on Thanksgiving evening across the United States, with shoppers prepared for markdowns and sales.

Despite the availability of shopping by Internet, as well as a steady rain, several hundred shoppers lined up at the Kohl's store in Chicago's Vernon Hills to await its 6 p.m. opening Thursday. It took eight minutes for all to enter the store.

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At Times Square stores in New York City, some stores, like Toys "R' Us, were so busy it was hard for many people, laden with shopping bags, to move. Although there were few reports of conflict, some arriving customers chose not to shop at all because of the crowds.

Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Toys 'R' Us, Macy's and Kmart were among other retailers opening their doors nationwide on Thursday evening.

Shoppers will spend, on average, $369 each for holiday gifts, or 25 percent per person more than last year, a survey by consulting firm Deloitte indicates. The National Retail Federation expects a 3.7 percent increase in holiday spending in its stores, to over $630 billion this year. The weekend, which includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and the Sunday yet unclaimed by any interest group, is expected to draw 136 million shoppers to brick-and-mortar stores.

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Then comes Cyber Monday, the day reflecting the increased growth in online sales of merchandise and mobile shopping. Digital spending through the holidays is expected to exceed $70 billion, a 14 percent increase over last year, the digital analytics firm comScore predicts.

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