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August 30, 2008 1:58:00 AM CDT

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Web Lifts Holiday Gloom of Retailers

Posted Nov 23, 07 10:38 AM CST in Technology,  Business 

(Newser) – Cyberspace may be this year’s favorite holiday destination as shoppers looking for bargains and trying to escape crowds eschew traditional brick-and-mortar malls for a cornucopia of retail opportunities online, reports Reuters. Retailers from Apple to Wal-Mart offered some of their best deals online starting Thursday, trumping the traditional Black Friday shopping madness that starts the day after Thanksgiving.

Among the online biggies: Wal-Mart offered a 47-inch flat-screen TV for $1,298 and Circuit City highlighted a Blu-ray disc player for $400. Retailers, worried rising food and gas prices and the housing crisis may sap holiday spending, are hoping online sales provide a bright spot. Stores offered shoppers cell phone text messages and wake-up calls to get them deals.

Source Reuters

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A sign offering Internet shopping hangs over shoppers at a Costco Wholesale store in Culver City, Calif.   (Associated Press)
Devoted Mac fans begin their Black Friday shopping at the Fifth Avenue Apple store at midnight on Friday morning, Nov. 23, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)   (Associated Press)
Jessie Pascua, right, stretches his legs, as he and other consumers line-up early outside a Best Buy for an after Thanksgiving sale Thursday, Nov. 22, 2007, in Los Angeles. Black Friday is one of the...   (Associated Press)
Shoppers are spending more time shopping on their computers this season.   (Associated Press)
Book buyers start their holiday shopping at the Union Square Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 in New York.   (Associated Press)
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retail sales  • holiday shopping  • online retailers


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