Sunny skies and mild temperatures greeted Black Friday shoppers across Western New York. Shopping malls were filled on what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year.
The Buffalo News reports 1,600 people were waiting outside the Toys 'R Us store in Amherst Thursday night, waiting for the 9pm opening of the store. It was also busy at Toys 'R Us in Hamburg, where store manager Lisa Santangelo said the early start to shopping drew quite a crowd.
"There were one thousand people in line," Santangelo said. "It was wonderful. We had an orderly crowd coming in. Shoppers were looking for everything, from electronics to fun toys for the kids."
Shoppers at local stores appeared to be orderly. But in Rome, New York, two women were injured while a man was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a fight broke out at a Wal-Mart store.
Foot traffic was reportedly heavy along the Elmwood Avenue shopping district Friday morning for what was being called the "Boutique Crawl." November 26th is Small Business Saturday where shoppers are encouraged to patronize their local independent retailers.