Was Black Friday a boom or bust?

I am having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend so far. I haven't had to cook yet so that is a bonus at my house. Yesterday, on Black Friday, I managed to stay away from the stores, since I am not fond of crowds but I also know that the real bargains come 2 weeks before Christmas.

I was not at the malls but yesterday I drove past 3 major ones and saw that the parking lots were full. My question is, are those people buying anything or are they window shopping? Of course we will not know that for another week or so when the major stores do some preliminary revenue checking.

Now here is the kicker, do people spend more because they see other people spending? Will reports of non-spending make people stop and think about what they are buying? It is my opinion that shopping is a lot like industrial hand wheels, when one wheel turns is gets a lot of other wheels turning. What people are waiting on, is to find out if that first wheel is turning or not.

Let's see if people in general think this economy is turning around - or not.