Over 15,000 people showed up Thursday evening when the store opened, earlier than the previous year, Macy's chief executive Terry Lundgren was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"I think that's part of what New York City is all about but Macy's is certainly where people come when they come to New York City," he said.
Black Friday is as much about the experience as the shopping. "I don't know what I'm here for, I'm just here," Ashley Ritchie, who had been standing outside the doors before the store opened, said, USA Today reported.
No longer exclusive to the United States, the BBC reported that police were called in to help control crowds of Black Friday shoppers at major shopping spots, like Tesco supermarkets. Online shoppers were not excluded – web stores like Amazon and Walmart's webshop are attracting customers with deep discounts and campaigns proclaiming "best buy" and "live sales online."
