Black Friday: 2 arrested in Southern California Kohl's

NEW YORK - Black Friday has become the part two of the kick-off to the holiday shopping season, with stores opening earlier on Thanksgiving.

Here's a look at what's happening around the country:

Best Buy Site Back Up

Best Buy's website seemed to be back up and running at around 11:30 a.m. eastern, after going down for more than an hour Friday with a message that read, "WE'RE SORRY."

"A concentrated spike in mobile traffic" prompted the company to shut down BestBuy.com so it could restore full performance, said Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman in an email.

Last week, Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly had said he expected competition for shoppers to be "intense." He forecast flat revenue for the fourth quarter.

Black Friday Arrests

Two women have been arrested after an early morning Black Friday fight among shoppers at a Southern California store.

Tustin Police Sergeant Ryan Coe told City News Service that a disturbance was reported at a Kohl's department store around 1 a.m. Two female victims were located on the second floor near the baby section and two suspects were found on the first floor.

Coe says it appears the four women got into an argument and a physical altercation ensued. He says one victim was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He did not know the nature of her injuries.

Wal-Mart Protests

About 100 protesters outside a Wal-Mart in downtown Chicago called on the company to pay its workers $15 an hour and provide more full-time positions.

"Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart, you're no good! Treat your workers like you should!" they chanted.

It's the latest round of protests to hit Wal-Mart, with organizers saying demonstrations are planned for 1,600 locations Friday. The union-backed group Our Walmart said workers started walking off the job on Wednesday and some staged a sit-down strike at a store in Washington, D.C.

Brooke Buchanan, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the company is not aware of anyone walking off the job. She said "a handful" of people worked their shifts before joining demonstrations.

Biggest Shopping Day of the Year?

Since 2005, Black Friday has held the crown for the top sales day of the year, according to ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 70,000 stores globally.

That could change this year. The earlier openings on Thanksgiving are eating into Black Friday sales. As a result, the last Saturday before Christmas may edge out Black Friday as the biggest shopping day of the year.

Still, Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, believes Black Friday and the Saturday before Christmas will be a close tie. He estimates both sales days will be in the $9 billion range.

Over at Macy's, CEO Terry Lundgren tells The Associated Press he thinks Black Friday will still be the company's biggest sales day of the year.

The Mall Is Still Open

The Mall of America says it drew 100,000 customers between 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving and 1 a.m. Friday.

Dan Jasper, a spokesman for the mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, says traffic slowed down after 2 a.m. but has been picking up again as the day progresses. The goal to keep in mind: the 230,000 visitors the mall attracted in the Thursday to Friday period last year.

"We think we can break that record," Jasper tells The Associated Press.

Ferguson Protests Hit Stores

Dozens of protesters interrupted Missouri shoppers on Thanksgiving to speak out about a grand jury's decision not to indict the white officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, a black teenager.

Demonstrations took place at a Target and multiple Wal-Mart stores in the St. Louis area, according to Johnetta Elzie, who tweeted and posted videos of the protests.

Protesters spent a few minutes shouting inside at each store. After police moved them out of one Wal-Mart, protesters chanted, "no justice, no peace, no racist police" and "no more Black Friday."

There was no immediate word of arrests. More demonstrations are expected Friday.

Marathon Shopper

At Westfield Fox Valley mall in Aurora, the mood was calm Friday morning. Parking spaces were plentiful and lines in many stores short or non-existent. Some groggy shoppers were still in their pajama pants, coffee in hand.

Kimberly States said it was noticeably quieter at the mall than it had been the night before, when she made her first trip to the mall.

"It was a zoo last night around 10 p.m.," she said. "Now it seems like more of the old folks."

States and her 11-year-old daughter were shopping mostly for clothes. She planned to return later Friday with her 19-year-old son, who will be shopping for a gift for his girlfriend.

She said she thinks people are feeling more confident about the economy, but she still plans to spend about the same amount on Christmas gifts - or maybe less - compared with last year.

Some Quiet Time

At around 5:30 a.m. Friday, a Target store in the suburb of Mission, Kansas, was mostly empty.

Bridget McNabb, 55, was disappointed when a worker told her the $119 TV she wanted sold out shortly after the store opened the evening before.

In Manchester, Connecticut, a Wal-Mart store was also quiet around 5:30 a.m. A few security guards stood on the sidewalk outside the front doors. And the nearby Shoppes at Buckland Hills had few customers at around 6:30 a.m.

Shopper Rachel Cormier was looking at clothing for one of her four grandchildren. She said the economy isn't an issue.

"I'm fortunate because my husband and I are both employed," she said.

U.K. Gets Black Friday, Shoving Included

Black Friday is becoming a tradition in the United Kingdom, too, and businesses there are finding the shopping derby can lead to chaos.

Early Friday morning, police were called to help maintain security at some supermarkets and shopping outlets that offered deep discounts starting at midnight.

"This created situations where we had to deal with crushing, disorder and disputes between customers," said Peter Fahy, police chief for greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester Police said there were two arrests as police closed some stores to prevent more severe problems. One woman was injured by a falling television set.

Online retailer Amazon is believed to have introduced the concept of Black Friday to the U.K. four years ago, with more businesses joining every year since.

Crowd Control

Back in the U.S., businesses are taking steps to keep crowds under control. Such efforts were stepped up after 2008, when a Wal-Mart worker died after a stampede of shoppers.

Best Buy, for instance, has a ticketing and line process to ensure an orderly entrance into its stores. The company also says stores held training sessions to prep for this weekend's rush.

At Target, deals are spread throughout stores and signs direct shoppers to hot items. And the company says every store has a crowd-management captain for inside and outside the store.

That doesn't mean everyone remembers their manners.

Wendy Iscra noted it got a little competitive at Wal-Mart in a Chicago suburb where she where she was shopping on Thanksgiving.

"People were shoving each other in there," the 40-year-old said.

Sales Bang

Black Friday is also one of the biggest days of the year for gun sales.

That puts pressure on the system for background checks. Researchers with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is overseen by the FBI, have until the end of the third business day following an attempted firearm purchase to determine whether a buyer is eligible. After that, buyers have the right to get their guns even if the check wasn't completed.

Last year, the clock ran out more than 186,000 times.

The problem is the records submitted by states, which aren't always updated to reflect restraining orders or other reasons to deny a sale.

NICS did about 58,000 checks on a typical day last year. The figure surged to 145,000 on Black Friday.

It May Be Too Late

Those waking early for some Black Friday shopping may have missed the boat.

It turns out the hottest deals of the season may be on Thanksgiving, according to an analysis of sales data and store circulars by two research firms.

This year, Target, Macy's and Kohl's opened at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Others started dishing out deals even earlier. Amazon.com and Best Buy started introducing Black Friday deals last week. On Wednesday, Target also gave early access to some of the specials reserved for the holiday shopping kickoff both in stores and online.

Early Bird Special

The National Retail Federation expected 25.6 million shoppers to head to stores on Thanksgiving, which would be slightly down from last year. The numbers aren't in yet, but there were crowds across the country.

Macy's said more than 15,000 people were lined up outside its flagship location in New York City's Herald Square when the doors opened at 6 p.m. Last year, the retailer said there were 15,000 people.

In the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store was full about a half hour before deals started at 6 p.m., including $199 iPad minis.

And thousands of people were at Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles, which opened at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving for a "Moonlight Madness" all-night sale. Hordes of cars inched past rows of palm trees wrapped in red and white lights.

Buyer's Remorse?

When stores first started opening on Thanksgiving a few years ago, the move was met with resistance by those who thought the holiday should remain sacred.

Some Thanksgiving shoppers still felt a tinge of guilt even as they snagged deals on the holiday. "I think it's ridiculous stores open on Thanksgiving," said Reggie Thomas, 44, a director who bought a Sony sound bar for $349, about $100 off, at Best Buy in New York on Thanksgiving.

Cathyliz Lopez, 20, who spent $700 at Target on Thanksgiving, agrees. "It's ruining the spirit of Thanksgiving," she said Thursday. "But ... the best deals were today."

A Visit From the Boss at Target

Target CEO Brian Cornell was at a store in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood for its opening at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Cornell, who became chief executive in August, said the kickoff to the season is off to a good start based on early reads around the country.

"The baskets are full," he said as he watched shoppers filling their carts with TVs, clothing and toys. He noted people were buying more than just deals.

Cornell told The Associated Press he feels encouraged by what he has seen at stores and online. The holiday kickoff has changed, he said. "It's been more of a week event," he said.