Five Big Surprises from Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The doors, virtual and actual, have been busted. While Super Saturday and "Cyber Week" still lie ahead, the two most heavily hyped shopping days of the season are behind us.

And for the most part, the early results are unsurprising. Online retail sales were fantastic not only on Cyber Monday but on Black Friday as well, continuing the explosive growth we've seen in online retail in recent years. As usual, Walmart and Amazon had nice weekends. And as usual, there was a bit of violence over the weekend -- an armed confrontation in line at Sears, a fight outside J.C. Penney, and an alleged shoplifter dying after a struggle with Walmart employees.

But there were a few surprises as well. Here are five noteworthy ones:

%Gallery-172005%


Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.