Hot deals and huge crowds

Black Friday is a grim day for retail store employees, but for shoppers, the sales are worth the chaos.

It is the day after Thanksgiving, and many retail stores mark down their inventory to draw in customers. Kendra Lesueur, a Wal-Mart employee, has worked on Black Friday for the past 13 years, and she is working again this year.

"That morning is normally chaos, but things run kind of smooth because we are open 24 hours," Lesueur said. "It helps because people are already inside the store so when the sale begins at 5 a.m., people are not running through the doors."

The store is full of people well before 5 a.m., but the deals on products such as TVs, cameras and other expensive merchandise ends at 11 a.m. The electronic section of the store is usually packed, but the store has extra security to keep order.

"Last year, we had a sale on portable DVD players, and when they cut the tape, (a customer) jumped into the stack of boxes," she said. "He started throwing the DVD players at other customers so they could get one, but besides people like him, everyone else behaves."

Lesueur said along with extra security inside, there will be police officers patrolling the parking lot to keep order.

Patrick Niedzwiedz, a Target employee, has worked on Black Friday twice, once as a cart attendant and once on the sales floor. When he arrived at work on those days, he had a hard time getting into the door because so many people were waiting in line outside the store.

"It is a pretty rough day because there is a lot of work to be done anyway, but because of the sale all that you can really do is stock shelves and help customers," he said.

He said the savings outweigh dealing with a few carried-away customers.

"People usually behave, but I would say that even though it is chaotic the deals are well worth the trouble of waiting in line and getting through the crowds," Niedzwiedz said.

Niedzwiedz works stock in Target currently, so he will not have much contact with customers this holiday season. However, he said Target will most likely order a lot of TVs and video game systems like Wiis.

"The sale lasts all weekend, but I would get there early if you want a Wii, TV, or something like that because they will be gone by around 10 a.m.," he said.

Kim Dacus enjoys the sales and the experience so much that once she withstood the crowds, despite being 8 months pregnant and running a fever.

She said she has never had a negative experience with shopping that day, and she has never seen a fight or anyone act "foolish." Even though she enjoys shopping, she said it is "absolutely nuts."

"The Year of the Furby" was the worst year because there were so many people in line, but she did not go during the "Year of the Tickle Me Elmo" because she heard it would be terrible.

Dacus said she advises first time shoppers on Black Friday to know what they want, do not bring a purse, try to map where you want to go in the store, get to the store early, and go with a partner.

Dacus said she has bought a 20 inch flat screen TV and an electric scooter for half price.

"It is always helpful to have someone with you because they can grab a cart while you rush to get what you want before it runs outs," Dacus said. "That way you can get to everything you need, and they can meet you with the cart."

Economic analysts predict that this year's Black Friday will not be as profitable for retailers. Some analysts said they expect consumers to stick to smaller gifts instead of buy large expensive gifts.

Analysts said you can expect to see sales of 40 to 60 percent off some items.

Chief merchandising officers at retailers expect Black Friday sales to increase 1.2 percent, lower than last year's growth of 8.3 percent. Online sales are expected to rise 2.4 percent, down from a 21 percent growth last year.