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Black Friday Becomes Blasé Friday as One-Time Frenzy Calms Down

  • Stores aim to make up for it with online sales, December push
  • Analysts say Walmart, Target and Lululemon are early winners
Shoppers wait outside the Macy’s Inc. flagship store in New York ahead of Black Friday.Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
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Becky Strickland really wanted her teenage daughter to experience the madness of Black Friday, so she brought her to Manhattan’s Herald Square -- typically one of New York’s busiest shopping districts.

But stores failed to produce the hectic scene she expected to encounter, even though discounts -- like sweaters marked down 60% to $14.99 at J.C. Penney Co. -- remained abundant.