Shopping marathon kicks off

Many major retailers extend big weekend to include Thanksgiving

While taking a break from their Black Friday shopping at Statesboro Mall, Brenda Van Arsdale, left, shares some photographs with fellow retired teachers Edna F. Mosley, center, and Debra Forham. Choosing to forgo the crowds Thursday and early Friday, the three Swainsboro friends traveled to the mall separately and ran into each other by chance.

112913 BLACK FRIDAY 01 — While taking a break from their Black Friday shopping at Statesboro Mall, Brenda Van Arsdale, left, shares some photographs with fellow retired teachers Edna F. Mosley, center, and Debra Forham. Choosing to forgo the crowds Thursday and early Friday, the three Swainsboro friends traveled to the mall separately and ran into each other by chance.

The holiday shopping season started as a marathon, not a sprint.More than a dozen major U.S. retailers stayed open for 24 hours or more on Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday, and crowds formed early and often over the two days.About 15,000 people waited for the flagship Macy's in New York to open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Long checkout lines formed at the Target in Colma, Calif., on Friday morning. And by the time Jessica Astalos was leaving North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Ga., after a six-hour buying binge that started on Thanksgiving, another wave of shoppers was coming in about 5:30 a.m. on Friday."You just have to be out in the midst of all of it," said Ricki Moss, who hit stores near Portland, Ore., at 5:30 a.m. on Friday.

Local

Local