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Triangle shoppers keep cool, avoid Black Friday chaos

Despite the widespread acceptance of online shopping and horror stories of chaos and crowds, dedicated shoppers still honored the Black Friday tradition across the Triangle.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Despite the widespread acceptance of online shopping and horror stories of chaos and crowds, dedicated shoppers still honored the Black Friday tradition across the Triangle.

Shoppers with their hearts set an certain deals lined up as early as 9 p.m. on Thursday at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. By the time the mall opened at 6 a.m. Friday, the lines for discount fashion retailer H&M and videogame boutique GameStop stretched for blocks.

By mid-morning, crowds at the malls and Cameron Village in downtown Raleigh were more typical of a weekend afternoon.

The trend toward less in-person shopping on a single day appeared to hold, and nationally, shoppers were focused on specialty items instead of the big box stores.

Shoppers in central North Carolina kept their cool, police said. There were no reports of the kinds of fights over hot items that were reported elsewhere.

Andy Ellen with the North Carolina Merchant’s Association said Black Friday has turned into the beginning of a week-long sale for most stores.

“It’s the first shopping weekend of the month rather than black Friday,” he said.

Because deals are spread over more days, some shoppers are concerned purchases from Black Friday will be further discounted later in the week.

Cyber Monday begins next week, one of the biggest days of the year for discounted online shopping.

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