A bit of light snow didn't keep Thanksgiving Day shoppers home around Syracuse. Black Friday hotspots like Target, Best Buy and Destiny USA were plenty busy. Last year was the first most big-name retailers were open on Thanksgiving Day and crowds turned up in large numbers.
This year was no different.
"It is what it is," said Nelson Cruz of Syracuse, who was in line outside the Best Buy in DeWitt for a 50-inch TV.
The first person in line at the store arrived at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night. He came prepared with plenty of layers, a comfortable folding chair and an umbrella.
"This isn't a tradition," said Nate Adams of Syracuse. "I just know I lose out every single year. I was determined."
Several hundred people were waiting in line outside Best Buy by the time it opened at 5 p.m. The stores often draw sizeable crowds with their Black Friday deals.
There was a little running when the doors opened, but no pushing or shoving. Most shoppers headed straight for big-ticket gadgets like TVs and tablets.
The line in the store's TV area was snaking through the aisles within minutes.
The National Retail Federation is projecting an increase in total holiday sales this year of 4.1 percent to a total of nearly $617 billion. The average consumer will spend $718 on holiday gifts in 2014, according to consulting firm Accenture.
At Destiny USA, the crowd around 6 p.m. seemed smaller than last year. But store openings this year were more spread out and the mall began to fill up by around 7 p.m.
Destiny was the first Thanksgiving/Black Friday shopping experience for Norwegian exchange student Mats Refsdal. He'd heard of the tradition before coming to the U.S. and wanted to see it for himself.
"We've seen some videos and stuff, but we don't really have it back in Norway," he said. "I didn't really know everyone did it."
Refsdal said he was a fan.
Maggie Cooper of West Monroe was shopping with Refsdal. She said she was surprised the mall wasn't more crowded. It was her first time out shopping on Thanksgiving.
"Some of [the stores], I don't like how early they're getting," she said. "We didn't finish Thanksgiving until like 4 and there were already stores open. So that kind of takes away from family time."
As many as 140.1 million people could shop this weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. That includes as many as 95.5 million Black Friday and 25.6 million on Thanksgiving.
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