Holiday Shopping Season, Bargains | featured news

Some day in the future, anthropologists may be able to explain the bizarre shopping rituals of the 21st Century American consumer during the holiday season: Why, for example, so many people look for bargains on one day – Black Friday – when with a little work bargains can be found on the other 364. Or why they stand in midnight lines in bleak winter weather only to risk stampedes and fight each other for cheap gifts.

Shoppers ignored Best Buy Co Inc's promotion of pricey 3D televisions and other high-end gadgets this holiday season as they chased bargains elsewhere, hammering the company's profits.