Early Birds Skip Sleep For Black Friday Bargains

BOSTON (CBS) – Black Friday got off to a busy start across southern New England.

Read: Black Friday Tips

Thousands of people took advantage of the early start to the holiday shopping season by hitting local malls and stores overnight.

WBZ-TV's Alana Gomez @ South Shore Plaza In Braintree

Polls show consumers are ready to spend slightly more than they did during the holiday season last year. And early reports from local retailers suggest more traffic coming through malls.

WBZ Radio's Karen Twomey Reports From Braintree

Shoppers who took a break from their whirlwind adventures to talk to WBZ largely said they were doing without a budget this year and they were ready to spend more than last year.

Stores were only too willing to help consumers part with their cash.

WBZ Radio's Rod Fritz talks to Edgar Dworsky of ConsumerWorld.org about what he found

Heavy Black Friday Traffic At Wrentham Outlets

It will take awhile for stores to crunch their numbers and figure out if today really did get them out of the red. But an official with the Retail Association of Massachusetts told WBZ the group was optimistic that this holiday season would be a strong one.

WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong reports at the end of the day on sales

WBZ-TV's Christina Hager reports from Boston

In:
• Christina Hager
• Jim Armstrong
• Black Friday
• South Shore Plaza
• Karen Twomey