Sales slide shows Black Friday hype may be over

New York

HAVE Americans finally had enough of Black Friday madness? Sales, both in stores and online, from Thanksgiving to the weekend were estimated to have dropped 11 per cent, to US$50.9 billion from US$57.4 billion last year, according to preliminary survey results released on Sunday by the National Retail Federation. Sales fell despite many stores opening earlier than ever on Thanksgiving Day.

And though many retailers offered the same aggressive…