Most stores opened earlier than ever for Black Friday. And yes, people were shot, pepper sprayed, and trampled . . . but DAMN the stores move a lot of merchandise.
--According to ShopperTrak, which monitors foot traffic and sales at malls and stores, this was the most successful Black Friday ever . . . and the single biggest day of retail sales in U.S. HISTORY.
--Sales were up a gargantuan 6.6% this year. At least $11.4 BILLION worth of merchandise was sold.
--Compare that to last year. In 2010, there was only a 0.3% climb in sales . . . 22 times smaller than the rise this year. And there was $10.7 BILLION worth of sales last year, which was the all-time record at the time.
--Online sales were up 39.3% on Thanksgiving this year and up 24.3% on Black Friday compared to last year.
--As for whether people were spending that money on gifts or themselves . . . it's getting closer to 50-50. In 2010, only 33% of purchases were people getting stuff for themselves. This year that made a monster jump to 44%.
RELATED COMEDY #1: This year's Black Friday set a record for: A.) Sales . . . B.) Crowds . . . C.) STABBINGS.
RELATED COMEDY #2: Sales reached a new record on Black Friday. As did the number of women in sweatpants admitted to emergency rooms.
RELATED COMEDY #3: Paris Hilton bought a brand-new $300,000 Ferrari on Black Friday. But you saved 62 cents on a polyester mattress cover. So who's the real winner?