Alabama Retailers seeing Busy "Black Friday"

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama retailers are into the heart of a holiday shopping season that could mean more than $9.5 billion in sales in the state. From outlet malls near the beach to the Tennessee Valley region in the north, stores were full Friday with shoppers looking for cut-rate prices on toys, flat-screen TVs, video games and clothes. Nancy Dennis of the Alabama Retail Association says the organization is projecting 2 percent growth in retail store sales in November and December, or about $8.9 billion total. State residents are expected to spend another $712 million online or in other untaxed sales, meaning shoppers could shell out about $9.6 billion over the last two months of the year.