In-store Black Friday crowds underwhelm as online shopping surges

Black Friday used to be the day when consumers were ready to claw their way to rock bottom prices at retailers across the country.

Television vans and reporters would arrive in the pre-dawn hours to talk to frenzied shoppers waiting for the chance to get their hands on a $3 toaster or a $100 television. But these days, Black Friday isn’t the one-day retail bonanza that it used to be.