HOLIDAY SHOPPING STARTS WITH A BANG

Over 140 million shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday, spending an average of $360.15

That figure is up by 18.9% over last year's $302.81, according to the National Retail Federation's 2006 Black Friday Weekend Survey, conducted by BIGresearch.

The NRF projects that holiday sales will rise 5% this year to $457.4 billion.

The most popular items purchased were clothing and accessories (41.4%) and CDs, DVDs, videos and video games (41.4%). Shoppers also sprung for consumer electronics and computer-related accessories (33.3%), toys (28.3%), gift cards (17.6%) and home decor and home-related furnishings (17.4%).

Discounters were the most popular shopping destination, at 49.6%, followed by department stores (38.8%), specialty retailers (37.5%) and online (23.0%).

Though more women than men went shopping, the survey found, the men outspent women by 38.1% with men spending $420.37 and women spending $304.30.