The woman leaving the Target discount store at the Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio, just after 7am on Friday seemed a little perplexed by the bustling pre-dawn scene. “Right, there’s a real bad economy out there. Yeah. Uh-huh.”

Behind her, the lines at Target’s check-out counters stretched 40 to 50 people deep into the rear of the store, with shoppers pushing carts loaded with “door-buster” specials, such as the Target-exclusive FurReal Friends voice-programmable parrot for $24.99.