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Holiday shopping season off to record start

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Thanksgiving at Target
Shoppers filled the aisle at the back of the Bloomington Target store, minutes after the chain's first-ever Thanksgiving night opening. Hundreds of people braved snow, cold and high winds to stand in line outside the store for Black Friday sales.
MPR Photo/Tim Nelson

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- There's a saying that you can't please all of the people all of the time. But apparently you can if they're holiday shoppers.

A survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday is showing that U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the Thanksgiving weekend. They were attracted by stores' efforts to make shopping easier for everyone, including opening on Thanksgiving Day and expanding shipping and layaway options.

A record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the four-day weekend starting Thanksgiving, according to the survey. That's up 9.2 percent from a year ago. Americans spent more too: The average holiday shopper spent $423 over the entire weekend, up from $398.

Total spending over the four-day weekend totaled $59.1 billion, up $52.4 billion in 2011.

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Thanksgiving at Target
Shoppers filled the aisle at the back of the Bloomington Target store, minutes after the chain's first-ever Thanksgiving night opening. Hundreds of people braved snow, cold and high winds to stand in line outside the store for Black Friday sales.
MPR Photo/Tim Nelson

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