A kinder, gentler Black Friday: Early store openings on Thanksgiving took the edge off Friday crowds

Workers in elf hats, packed escalators beneath giant glittering ornaments, weary shoppers crouched under signs screaming "50% off everything" - 18 hours into Black Friday sales, Hamilton Place mall was still buzzing.

Driven by early hours at department stores, the mall threw open its doors starting at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. That's two hours earlier than last year, and seems to have translated into a less hectic Black Friday, marketing director Catharine Wells said.

Outside Forever 21, Norm Teske, 47, of Chattanooga, waited for his 14- and 12-year-old daughters to finish shopping. His family arrived around 9:30 a.m. Friday.

photo People walk between stores in Hamilton Place Mall.

"With Black Fridays these days, I don't think you have to get up and stay out all night to get the deals," Teske said.

National analysts agree. Many stores reported that Thursday sales cut down on the pre-dawn shopping invasion.

"Stores being open last night takes away some of the early birds," Moody's analyst Michael Zucchero told The Associated Press.

Wal-Mart and Target reported brisk Thanksgiving crowds. Officials with the colossal Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., said it drew 100,000 people between 5 p.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday, nearly what it draws over a typical full day.

At Hamilton Place, store managers reported "waves" of shoppers that seemed to ebb and flow throughout the night. Though the mall remained open all night, Banana Republic closed between 1:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. That seemed to work out well, manager Lindsay Pruitt said, because shoppers didn't show up in force until after 7 a.m.

"We were expecting to see a lot more," Pruitt said.

But those later hours worked just fine for Richard Emrath, 69, of Signal Mountain. He crammed himself into a corner near the blazers and read a hardback book called "Starfire" while his wife and daughter shopped.

"Thankfully, we're past the stage where we have to start out at five in the morning," Emrath said.

Emrath called himself a "mule," tagging along to shuttle bags back and forth to the car or hold packages while his family chose gifts. He loves to come along, especially with a book, but said he'd never consider coming out on Thanksgiving night.

Not so for Tatum McMullen and Courtney Franks, both 15, of Dalton, Ga. Franks waited in a line at Wal-Mart for nearly eight hours Thanksgiving night, and McMullen was there nearly as long. They returned to the mall about 11 a.m. They had to find the right boots, McMullen said, and compared to the night before, the mall mayhem was nothing.

"It's not as crowded," Franks said.

Nationally, there were scattered reports of shopper scuffles and arrests, the AP reported. In addition, protests were planned nationwide over minimum-wage laws and the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo. Protesters interrupted holiday shopping at major stores around St. Louis to vent their anger over the decision not to indict the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown.

About two dozen people chanted "No justice, no peace, no racist police!" and "No more Black Friday!" after police moved them out of a Walmart in Manchester, a St. Louis suburb.

Retailers and shoppers reported selling or snagging many of the perennially popular purchases seen each year. Trendy boots. Big TVs. Sweaters -- they make great gifts, said Pruitt at Banana Republic.

But even though Black Friday has been the biggest shopping day of the year since 2005 and is traditionally a time for shoppers to tick items off their Christmas lists, Pruitt said many of her customers were buying for themselves, too.

At Barnes and Noble, Eric Taylor, 44, found himself distracted by the store's collection of vinyl records.

"I came to get some coffee, but BOOM, I saw this," Taylor said.

The records are relatively new for Barnes & Noble. Their other big promotions this year include signed books from the store's 100 top-selling authors, including Amy Poehler, former President George W. Bush and Dan Brown. Some flew off the shelves early, but many were left around lunch when a new wave of customers trickled in.

"We really just got busy a little while ago," general manager Mike Pemberton said.

Though small businesses are expected to have deals and promotions throughout Small Business Saturday today, many along the North Shore ran sales Friday, too. At Tangerina's, where Nicole Griffin and her aunt hand-make original art from recycled materials, big sales just aren't an option. But Friday's beautiful weather brought out crowds.

"I feel like there's a lot more foot traffic," Griffin said.

Overall, the day seemed about like Taylor expected, he said. He, too, opted to sleep in.

"Everybody seems to be in good spirits, nobody's being rude," Taylor said. "That's what it's all about."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at cwiseman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow her on Twitter @clairelwiseman.

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