For many local families, the Thanksgiving Day celebration doesn’t end with that piece of pumpkin pie or the last play of the football game.

Just check out the lines outside Belk and Prime Outlets — Gaffney to discover that the day after Thanksgiving starts early as many people look to get ahead in preparation for Christmas gift giving and gobble up those deep discounts.

Leesa Bodden, the outlet mall’s marketing manager, said her mall’s annual pajamathon, during which the first 500 shoppers dressed in pajamas receive goodie bags and gift cards, has become a tradition.

“You see some of the same people come back each year,” Bodden said. “They recognize you as somebody who works for the mall and they say how much they enjoy this. Some of the shoppers were out here waiting on the property since 3 p.m. to be sure that they would get a goodie bag.”

Although retail analysts predicted rising unemployment would keep many consumers on the sidelines, Black Friday — the traditional start of the holiday shopping season — wasn’t as dark as some had feared.

At Prime Outlets — Gaffney, traffic was up by double digits compared to last year’s figures.

“We are extremely pleased with the turnout of shoppers on Black Friday,” Bodden said.

Shoppers began lining up at Belk in the early hours Friday, but most agreed the deals were worth losing sleep over.

“We let about 200 to 250 people in the store before 4:30 a.m.,” a smiling Belk Store Manager Jim Tyler said. “And it was steady all day long.”

Sales were up a whopping 8 percent as compared to last year’s Black Friday totals, Tyler said.

“We just had some fantastic prices,” he said.

Friday’s figures may bode well for the entire holiday shopping season.

“If (Friday) was any indication, I’m looking for a strong holiday shopping season and I have Cherokee County to thank for that,” Tyler said.

Shoes, along with men’s and women’s apparel, flew off the shelves at Belk.

At Big Lots, the line of eager shoppers waiting for the doors to open stretched nearly the length of a football field to the former Goodwill store.

“It was absolutely crazy. We had a phenomenal day,” Big Lots Manager Anna Hardin said.

Electronics, in general, and MP3 players, in particular, were musthave items at Big Lots, Hardin said.

Walmart Manager Andrew Williams said the shopping season got off to a strong start at her store also.

“It went pretty well,” Williams said. “People are looking for cheap deals.”

ShopperTrak, a research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 stores, showed Black Friday spending rose 0.5 from last year when Black Friday sales jumped a striking 3 percent.