Protests by Wal-Mart workers didn't seem to have much effect on bargain hunters.
Small groups gathered at Wal-Marts across the country. About 350 marched outside a Wal-Mart in Woodlawn, Md., on Friday morning. A group of 30 or so demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart in San Leandro, Calif.
Yet shoppers appeared to remain unfazed.
"We had very safe and successful Black Friday events at our stores across the country," said Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon. "Only 26 protests occurred at stores last night and many of them did not include any Wal-Mart associates."
Inside the stores, it was a free-for-all when the deals were unleashed at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Wal-Mart offered "in-stock guarantees" for certain hot items, like iPads and Blu-ray players during certain hours of the night, which evidently was a big hit.
Wal-Mart said this year marked its "best ever Black Friday events," and its stores welcomed a larger crowd of shoppers than last year. During its initial four opening hours on Thanksgiving, the retailer processed nearly 10 million register transactions, and almost 5,000 items per second.
