Tacoma SDS

U.S. retailers opened their doors at midnight and discounted merchandise as much as 70 percent on the day after Thanksgiving to entice customers during what may be "the worst" holiday shopping season in six years, writes financial news source Bloomberg. Many stores opened at 4:00 am or 5:00 am.

At a Wal-Mart 20 miles east of Manhattan, a worker was trampled and killed by the rush of consumers who came for the "doorbuster" deals once the store opened, according to the Associated Press. At least four other people, including a woman eight months pregnant who suffered a miscarriage due to the trampling, were taken to hospitals.

Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been in line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aT.uYxntYxsk&refer=h...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDXtETwP7G17BQsO07Decw...