Thanksigiving weekend sales by U.S. retailers dropped 3%, according to a consumer survey by the National Retail Federation, despite higher store traffic.  Stimulated by earlier openings on Thursday, store traffic was up the most earlier in the weekend. 

Holiday sales continue to move online, with survey respondents reporting that they are spending a higher proportion of their budgets online than in years past.   

ShopperTrak found that sales were up 2.3% for Thursday and Friday in its report, indicating that sales may have been pulled earlier in the weekend.

Protests were held outside 1000 Walmart stores in 46 states, according to the organization Our Walmart, although they did not appear to disrupt shopping.

Our favorite Black Friday promotion was by Cards Against Humanity, the company that only sells its hit game products online via Amazon (see "Hit Game Sells 500,000 Copies").  "Today only, all Cards Against Humanity products are $5 more," the offer trumpeted.  And they were:  the core Cards Against Humanity game was selling for $30 on Friday, and back down to $25 on Saturday.  On both days, "0% of the proceeds" were donated to Make a Wish Foundation.

Retailers are under pressure this holiday season, both by the calendar (there's almost a week less between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year) and by economic conditions, in which stagnant wages and high unemployment give consumers, especially at lower income levels, limited resources with which to celebrate the holidays.