Thanksgiving weekend generated about 9 percent of holiday sales last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Visa USA Inc. processed 2,808 transactions a second Friday and 2,711 a second Saturday. That topped last year's peak of 2,700 a second, reached the day before Christmas, spokesman Sean Healy said. The normal load is 300 transactions a second. Friday, same-store sales rose about 6.4 percent from the same day a year ago, according to First Data Corp.'s TeleCheck unit, which analyzed checks written by consumers at 27,000 of its 210,000 locations.
Checks account for about one-third of retail spending.
The company is forecasting a 3 percent to 5 percent gain in November and December sales. Other analysts expect similar sales gains for November and December. Shoppers also turned to the Internet for gifts to avoid crowds and to browse scores of Web sites for specific items and price ranges. Mr. Koerbel of Pete's PhotoWorld said most of the business from his chain's year-old Web site is coming from customers outside the Cincinnati area, so it hasn't stolen sales from the stores. Enquirer reporter Lisa Biank Fasig and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.