Black Friday: Shopper Flock, Feud at Major Retailers

Black Friday weekend 'very busy'; Thanksgiving sales break record (L.A. Times)

The Thanksgiving and Black Friday back-to-back shopping events proved to be more popular with Americans than they were last year, according to industry data.

The National Retail Federation pegged the number of unique shoppers Thursday through Sunday at more than 141 million, up from 139 million last year. Many shopped multiple times, resulting in more than 248 million people waiting in line, up from 247 million in 2012, according to the trade group.

Average spending per shopper, however, fell to $407.02 from $423.55 last year.