Parking was plentiful early at the Royal Kunia Wal-Mart and there were no lines in front of Sears at Ala Moana Center when doors opened at 7 a.m. Still, Macy's, which has 17 stores and shops in Hawai'i, said several hundred people were waiting to get into some stores before they opened. By noon, Ala Moana, Windward Mall, Kahala Mall, Victoria Ward and other major shopping areas were reporting heavy traffic.

As the shopping day wrapped up, Hawai'i retailers remained hopeful that this after-Christmas season through Sunday would be at least as good as last year, if not slightly better. Christmas sales at all major retailers are expected to rise 1.5 percent from a year earlier, the smallest gain since 1970, said Bank of Tokyo economist Michael Niemira.

That's not necessarily good news for retailers, who are looking for a big bump in sales after what was a lackluster shopping season nationwide. The week after Christmas typically accounts for more than 10 percent of annual sales for retailers, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

And those shoppers who were making the rounds yesterday were looking for good deals before opening their pocketbooks.

"I'm just looking to buy some clothes, wrapping paper and stuff," said Sherri Masuda of Waipahu, who scored sheets at a 50 percent discount while at Ala Moana. "I like the discounts. That's what brought me out. I just don't like the crowds."

Several malls statewide said traffic started out slow then picked up steadily before peaking in the early afternoon. That's not unusual for the day after Christmas, when many people opt to sleep in and shop later in the day, said Ron Yoda, general manager for Kahala Mall. The mall typically gets about 30,000 visitors a day, a figure that should have easily been exceeded yesterday, he said.

But whether that translates into increased sales "really depends on how much merchants discount and what they discount," Yoda said. "Shoppers are definitely looking for after-Christmas discounts."

That's because customers nationwide have been frugal, uninspired by the lack of must-have items and worried about the economy. The compressed season, six days shorter than a year ago, also affected consumers, who never quite recovered from the late Thanksgiving and seemed to delay their gift buying even more than usual.

That was the case for two Canadian sisters who rested on a bench near the food court at Ala Moana at around noon yesterday.

"I think for the most part I'm spending less, but that's partly because I'm spending more on my vacation this time," said Bobby Schram, of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Schram and her sister, Ricky Williams of New Westminster, British Columbia, were Christmas shopping later this year hoping for lower prices. Apparel, including some short pants, topped their list.

"My shorts are kind of worn out," Williams said. "We don't need shorts up there this time of year."

Elsewhere, mid-mall on the second floor of Ala Moana, things were more hectic for some shoppers including Cathryn Rowlett, of Dana Point, Calif., who was navigating the mall while corralling two kids.

Rowlett said she didn't have a specific shopping list, opting instead to look for bargains. For other shoppers, apparel and jewelry were among the items on the post-Christmas shopping list. Those were among the busiest departments at Sears Ala Moana.

"Sometimes the ladies have a mind to spend some of the Christmas money they received," said Gill Berger, store manager at Sears Ala Moana. Berger said lines at the store were late in forming yesterday, but that's not unusual because it was a work day.

"I'd say things are going well at this point," he said. "I think people will really start coming in Saturday."

At Macy's at Ala Moana, discounts were as high as 60 percent for shoppers showing up early. Deena Nichols, director of stores for Macy's Hawai'i region, said many people were stocking up on Christmas lights, wrapping paper and decorations for next year.

"For many people it's a tradition," Nichols said.

Compared to traffic on the same day last year, "I think it's probably pretty standard," Nichols said. "We're pleased with the business so far."

Many retailers agreed that the day after Christmas typically is the largest in terms of transactions but not necessarily in terms of sales. That's because of the typically large volume of returns and exchanges, said Carol Van Camp, general manager at Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo. Figures for yesterday's receipts were unavailable.

Still, total receipts at the Big Island's largest shopping center were expected to be about 50 percent above normal daily levels. Among the busiest stores at Prince Kuhio Plaza were Macy's and Hallmark, Van Camp said.

"We opened at eight, and by 10 the mall was pretty busy," she said. "Traffic seems to be higher than last year."

Away from the malls, discounters such as Wal-Mart were offering some items up to 50 percent off, including some toys and Christmas-themed goods in an effort to attract shoppers. The hottest sellers were storage containers, video games and movies, said Walter Lott, the store's general manager.

"Generally we sell a lot of games and a lot of memory cards for games and DVDs, because many people get games and DVD players for Christmas," he said.

Slower-than-anticipated sales caused Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, to warn yesterday that December sales nationwide would be lower than initially forecast. The discounter now expects that same-store sales will be up 2 percent to 3 percent this month, down from an earlier anticipated 3 percent to 5 percent gain.

For retailers, any gains, should they materialize, would come on the heels of year-ago results that weren't particularly strong given the nationwide recession and public safety concerns stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Last year wasn't a great year, but it turned out better than everybody thought it would," said Jonathan Kim, general manager for Windward Mall. "This year is better than last year."