GOOD DEAL: Shoppers wait in a long checkout line at a Wal-Mart store in New Jersey on November 28. Despite the economic slowdown, Americans swarmed large retailers the day after Thanksgiving for early-morning sales (CHEN WEN)

Standing in the middle of an endless checkout line at a Wal-Mart store in New Jersey, her shopping cart piled with toys, children's clothes and household appliances, Amy Fresse looks pretty patient. She chats with her sister, in line right behind her with another big cart, and her mother-in-law, resting on a stool next to the line after surviving the early-morning shopping rush.

It's 8:30 in the morning on Black Friday -- the day after American Thanksgiving, which fell on November 27 this year. This is the traditional start of the holiday shopping season in the United States and once marked the day retailers would turn a profit for the year.

"It's a big day for me," Fresse told Beijing Review. "All my shopping for the holidays will be done today. That's it. No more shopping for Christmas."

Together with her family members, Fresse arrived at Wal-Mart around 7 a.m. after first making a stop at the nearby Home Depot store. By 8:20 a.m., she had already found everything on her shopping list, including seven gifts for the whole family, some cotton apparel for her young daughter and a cleaner for herself.

There is no sign of less spending for Fresse compared with the same period last year, she said. Fresse, who works in the customer service department at a New Jersey office appliance company, told Beijing Review that she has not been directly hit by the overwhelming financial chaos, although company sales have gone down. Asked if she thinks the holiday shopping of ordinary Americans would be negatively affected this year by the financial crisis, she said, "Can you tell from these long lines?"

According to the 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey conducted by BIGresearch, a consumer market intelligence firm, for the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 172 million people visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million last year, and shoppers spent an average of $372.57, up 7.2 percent over last year's $347.55. Shoppers spent an estimated $41.0 billion total.

"Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season's hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again."

But analysts warned that this kind of shopping enthusiasm spurred by discounts could be short lived. "Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious," said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at BIGresearch. "Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases."

While the country is seeking its way out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, retailers are trying to lure shoppers with deep discounts on consumer electronics, toys and clothing, which according to NRF were the goods in highest demand at the start of Black Friday weekend.

Despite buoyant sales over Black Friday weekend, most of the nation's retailers face double-digit declines overall in November sales, according to newly released figures that for most retailers did not include post-Thanksgiving sales.

The November sales figures released on December 4 "underscored that such declines had become the norm across the retail spectrum," said The New York Times.

(Reporting from New York)