QUOTEBOX-UPDATE 1-Black Friday shoppers speak about their deals

Nov 26 (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers turned out in force for "Black Friday" deals on everything from cashmere sweaters to laptop computers in the annual retail pilgrimage that kicks off the holiday shopping season. [ID:nNN2529414]

Dedicated bargain hunters lined up outside stores from Wal-Mart (WMT.N) to Target (TGT.N) and Best Buy (BBY.N) before the sun came up, hoping to be among the first to buy deeply discounted televisions and toys.

Below are selected quotes from shoppers across the United States. For full holiday season coverage, see: [ID:nUSHOLIDAY]

* Jaimin Chokshi, 29, a hedge fund accountant shopping in Manchester, Connecticut for children's clothes, toys and household goods.

"We're just shopping for the family and always thinking about the year ahead, buying for kids mostly. There are some good discounts, obviously there's just the attraction that this is a shopping day," he said.

He will spend more this year because his family has grown, but "I don't feel any confidence in the economy. I'm starting a new tradition so I have to spend out of my pocket. This is a new ritual I want to start."

* Medical assistant Andrea Arzu, 22, of Boston started shopping at 8 am EST and was carrying purchases from Old Navy, Champs Sports, Best Buy and Marshalls.

She said she was spending more this year than last year since the discounts did not seem as deep.

"I felt like everything is more expensive this year than last year," she said.

* Dan Cianflone, 64, a dentist, at The Shops at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase, Maryland with his wife and daughter. He said he was spending less this year on holiday shopping.

"My business is slower. My wife's business is in the tank," he said. "Everybody has a pessimistic attitude. There's no optimism. Maybe we need Ronald Reagan's optimism. He was always optimistic. People are waiting to see something."

Cianflone said in his business, patients are putting off a lot of elective dental procedures due to a stagnant economy.

"I do more root canals in a bad economy because people put off their treatments," he said, drawing a parallel to retail consumption patterns. "Nobody has that confidence. If you wanted a new car a few years ago, you just went out and bought one. No you're waiting. You may need one, but you're waiting."

* Krystal Mercer, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina and her friend have gone Black Friday shopping together for three years, foregoing sleep after Thanksgiving to hit the stores.

"We've been up since 8 a.m. Thursday," Mercer said. "By the time you want to sleep Thursday night, you start getting excited about the stores opening early Friday. The adrenaline just gets going."

* Samantha Pascal, 24, was shopping for a laptop on sale for $445 for herself in Charlotte. She said she missed out on the deal because of Wal-Mart's move to hand out vouchers to shoppers overnight, earlier than she expected.

"They're already sold out of everything," she said. "All the good stuff is spoken for."

* Graduate student Mauro Raguseo was shopping for gifts to send to family overseas at Kohl's (KSS.N) in Jersey City, New Jersey .

"I'm a student so I get most of my shopping done on Black Friday," he said. "There weren't that many things I wanted to go out and get this year in terms of electronics. Last year, the Black Friday deals might have been better especially at this store."

* Sanjay Patil waited for hours outside a Best Buy store in Princeton, New Jersey before it opened its doors at 5 a.m.

"I'm looking at the TV and it says save $70 and I'm like, come on, you've got to be kidding," he said. "If it's Black Friday, it has to be 100 or 120 bucks savings minimum."

* Courtnay Spencer, 34, who works as a personal banker at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, said she was primarily shopping for herself this morning.

"They're OK, but I think you get a better deal if you wait until after Christmas," she said of the early discounts after buying a pair of boots at Belk. She said she would be able to buy three pairs of shoes for what she spent on the single pair of boots, "but I don't know if they would have had my size or the style I wanted after Christmas."

Spencer also adopted the "stay up all night strategy" waiting in line at a nearby Old Navy store that opened at 4 a.m.

"It's just easier to stay up," she said. (Compiled by Michele Gershberg. Reporting by Ross Kerber, Lynn Adler, Ben Klayman, Liana B. Baker, Jon Lentz, Phil Wahba, Martinne Geller and Joe Rauch. Editing by Robert MacMillan)