The Thanksgiving shopping weekend turned out better than most stores and retailers expected.

“Black Friday,” the unofficial term stores use for the day after Thanksgiving, is the busiest shopping day of the year for most retailers.

The slow economy didn’t result in a slower shopping day. In fact, stores saw the opposite, with holiday shopping increasing dramatically over previous years.

Stores around DeKalb saw an increase in shoppers as well, although none reported anything as bad as the mobs and heavy crowds shown on CNN.

Wal-Mart, Target and other department stores are doing more business this year, despite the slow economy.

“A lot of discount retailers are going to see strong sales this year,” said Diana Channing, store team leader of Target, 2555 Sycamore Road. “Higher-end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue or Abercrombie & Fitch may be experiencing drop-offs in sales, since people have less to spend.”

Border’s Books and Music, 2520 Sycamore Road, was so busy over the weekend that it is restocking shelves now, said Julie Morsch, interim general manager.

“Holidays are our busiest time,” she said, “and with our newer services, we’re expecting a good holiday season.”

Clothing retailer Old Navy, 2347 Sycamore Road, was unavailable for comment. But according to press releases on its Web site, the retailer had a slight increase in holiday sales compared to last year.

Jonathan Finn, director of relations at Old Navy, said in a press release that its ads, contests and clothes are expected to make this year a good one despite economic setbacks.

There are six less shopping days this year than last, and less time to finish up Christmas shopping is a factor in the holiday rush.

“This is what you get for not doing your Christmas shopping in September,” said Katie Koffel, a junior high incidence special education major.