Black Friday may not attract lines of customers wrapped around buildings as in years past, but overall, the number of holiday shoppers who went to stores and made purchases online this year nearly broke records.

Black Friday has grown into a month-long affair, and total sales have gone up each of the past 6 years except 2022.

A local resale boutique, Smarty Pants, saw a surge in sales this Black Friday, surpassing previous years by a significant margin. Leslie Engledow, the boutique’s owner, said that this year’s holiday shopping event was “a wonderful day,