The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that after weeks of plugging increasingly inviting discounts, retailers in the United States and several other countries are preparing for prime time: Black Friday, the bargain bonanza that still reigns as the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe says that department stores, shopping malls and merchants -- big and small -- see the day after U.S. Thanksgiving as a way to energize shoppers and to get them into physical stores at a time when many gift-seekers are content to do their browsing on-line. There are enough traditionalists that Black Friday remains the biggest day of the year for retail foot traffic. Analysts envision a strong U.S. holiday shopping season, though perhaps not as robust as last year's, with many shoppers under financial pressure and cautious with their discretionary spending despite the easing of inflation. Retailers will be even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. The outlook is bright for Costco heading into the holiday season.