The nation's retailers were watching anxiously, having already suffered significant declines this year thanks to the weakening U.S. economy.
But the first nationwide returns were positive for merchants.
ShopperTrak RCT, a retail industry research firm, said total Black Friday sales rose 3% this year, to about $10.6 billion nationwide.
The day after Thanksgiving is dubbed "Black Friday" because it traditionally marked the day when retailers finally move out of the red, indicating losses, and into the black, representing profits.Several experts say Black Friday is not the year's busiest shopping day. Between 1993 and 2002, it cracked the top five just three times, never rising higher than the fourth-busiest day of the year, according to snopes.com, a Web site that debunks urban myths.
Americans, it seems, love to procrastinate: Eight years out of 10, the busiest day fell on the Saturday before Christmas (aka "Super Saturday"), snopes.com reported, citing statistics from the International Council of Shopping Centers.
