Created: 11/27/2009 9:23:58 AM 
Greensboro, NC -- All over the country, shoppers lined up in the middle of the night waiting for door buster deals. At the Target on Bridford Parkway in Greensboro, some folks came out after dinner on Thursday night just to be the first in line for Friday sales. The family that led the crowd into the store when it opened at 5 a.m. said it began camping out at 6 p.m. Thursday. Electronics were the big draw for shoppers. A run on flat screen TVs at the store made for some tense moments for the early crowds when the number of deep-discounted televisions began to dwindle. "It got crazy because they ran out at first and then the lady came out with a cartful (of TVs)," said shopper Kevin Kinley. "Everybody pounced then. It got crazy. I was getting muscled a little bit." The troubled economy has shoppers looking a little different at their holiday shopping this year. One woman who was up before dawn to look for deals at a Best Buy store in Ohio says she's had to cut back her spending, since her hours as a food worker were trimmed back from 40 to 25 hours a week. Robin Fryman says it's "definitely made a difference" in the way she shops. She bought a $300 camera for her daughter today for a sale price of $172. But aside from that, she says she's focusing mostly on practical items like clothing. The Ohio Best Buy store says some people started camping out with tents at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. They started handing out tickets for big items, like laptop computers and TVs, around 4 a.m. today. Worries about jobs were on the minds of many shoppers, as they looked for big bargains and for practical gifts. At the Macy's flagship store in New York, which opened at 5 a.m., dozens of women were rummaging through a bin of purses marked 40 percent off the original price. The retail industry is headed into the holiday season with more practical goods on the shelves, reflecting shoppers' new mindset. But with unemployment at 10.2 percent, many analysts think total holiday sales won't be better than last year's. Back in the Triad, the Bridford Parkway Target store says it's expecting almost 70,000 shoppers will pass through the store Friday. Safety was a top priority and the store set up barricades and corrals to funnel everyone through to the departments they were looking for. Greensboro police officers also patrolled the aisle to ensure things remained peaceful.
