On this year’s Black Friday, things almost seem normal.

       Malls and stores report decent-sized crowds, if not the floods of people that used to fight over the latest toys and electronics — online shopping is much too common for that now, and discounts are both more subdued and spread out over the weeks leading up to Christmas, on both websites and in stores.

       Black Friday drew crowds to the Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles on the day after Thanksgiving in Los Angeles.

       (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

       With their slew of shopping bags, Juan Vasquez of Guadalajara, Mexico, and his family, including daughter Miranda, 5, right, take a well-earned break at the Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles.

       (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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       A Black Friday queue forms outside the Coach store at the Citadel Outlets.

       (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

       Kayla Wrobel and Sophie Hawkins of Burbank pause from shopping on Black Friday at the Glendale Galleria.

       (Nick Agro / For The Times)

       Customers stroll the concourse at the Glendale Galleria on Black Friday.

       (Nick Agro / For The Times)

       Shoppers wait outside Best Buy before it opens at 5 a.m. on Black Friday at the Empire Center in Burbank.

       (Nick Agro / For The Times)

       Shoppers look to score deals at 5 a.m. Black Friday at the Best Buy in Empire Center in Burbank.

       (Nick Agro / For The Times)

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