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By all accounts, the holiday season appears to be off to a robust start, with lines longer and carts fuller than a year ago, but a key question remains: What will happen after the holiday madness fades?
According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers lined up as early as 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to snap up hot deals on toys, apparel, electronics and appliances.
Early Friday morning, traffic at the Taubman Centers [ TCO 41.34 
-0.27 (-0.65%) ] malls was up about 10 percent, according to Bill Taubman, the mall operator's chief operating officer.
At Taubman's Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, Ill., the parking lots were about 35 percent full at 6 a.m. That's up from last year, when the lots were about 28 percent full, Taubman said. "Clearly, there are more people out this year than there were last year."
Shopper Matt Diener, of Warren, N.J., said he arrived at Watchung Square Mall in Watchung, N.J., shortly after midnight to stand in line. Just after 5 a.m., he emerged victorious in his quest for a 32-inch Westinghouse LCD HDTV, which he bought for $246 at Target [ TGT 51.51 -0.29 (-0.56%) ].
Like a majority of shoppers, Diener said he's trimming his shopping list this year.
"My fiancee and I are buying a mutual gift—that's what this TV is—instead of exchanging other gifts. So we're not buying jewelry or other things like that," Diener said.
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