Black Friday sparked a wild weekend of holiday shopping in Douglas County and nationwide...

When the doors opened late Thanksgiving night and early Friday morning, a tidal wave of bargain-seekers flooded into big box retailers. By the time regular shopping hours rolled around, many other retailers reported they, too, were hit with bigger-than-normal crowds, hoping to snare big deals on holiday gifts. Retailers at Westridge Shopping Center in Lawrence and at malls in Topeka and Kansas City say this morning that business was strong throughout the weekend. That's good news since the Black Friday weekend traditionally signals how well retailers will do throughout the holiday season.