>Part of the 'problem' is that the holiday shopping season is 6 days shorter than usual due to T-day hitting on the last Thursday of November, instead of the next to last Thursday.

Six days out of 30 to 35, that's about 17-20%, which doesn't explain the 10%. Unemployment, as in "all your jobs are belong to outsource", may.

If I was still there, I'd be grateful for the grace period when I could still go and buy groceries without being bombarded with bells at the door, same five songs in a loop (on PA system in every store) and the bichromatic sheen on everything (i.e. all colors but the select two are forbidden).

As for the black friday, did that only once, in 1999, just to sample the behavior of the natives and to buy a TV. For all the other years, spent that day at home, nothing to see out there.