Discounts, long lines and early morning mall traffic marked the beginning of the holiday shopping season Friday, but several Ames retailers said sales were not as high as expected.

Financial analysts predicted an in-store spending increase of 3to 4 percent this season, compared to 7 percent last year, according to the Associated Press. Local retailers said the decrease in spending at their stores could be due to the weekend’s ideal traveling weather, an increase in online shopping and college students’ leaving town for break.

“We expected sales to be higher,” said Suzanne Storms, manager of Bath & Body Works at North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave. She said the sunny skies and mild temperatures could have prompted local shoppers to travel to Des Moines to shop.

Saleem Saed, assistant manager of Walden Books at North Grand Mall, said the store met its sales goals for the day, but he thought it should have been busier. Saed said Walden Books usually has longer lines at the registers the day after Thanksgiving.

“Sales were slower than expected, but good compared to other days,” said Molly Paulsrud, assistant manager of Vanity at North Grand. She said people might not be in the Christmas mood, so they opt for the convenience of online shopping.

However, the Associated Press reported that although the number of online shoppers will nearly double to 35 million this year, analysts estimate that Internet spending will only account for 1 percent of all holiday sales.

“We were steady busy, but not crazy busy like we usually are the day after Thanksgiving,” said Brenda Van Patter, store director of Victoria’s Secret at North Grand Mall.

Van Patter said more holiday shoppers are choosing to shop on the Internet to avoid large crowds, and free shipping and handling offered by several online stores is attracting more business.

“Customers don’t want to deal with all of the day-after-Thanksgiving hype,” said Bob Voelker, sales associate at Maurices in the mall.

Patty Campbell, a shopper from Colo, said she went to Marshalltown the day after Thanksgiving and she knows several people who normally shop in Ames but traveled to Des Moines the day after Thanksgiving because of the larger selection.

“I didn’t go to Ames because I thought it would be too busy,” Campbell said.

Not all stores had disappointing sales the day after Thanksgiving. Greg Hayes, a sales manager at Sears in the mall, said some departments, including electronics and hardware, did better than expected, and sales will continue to increase until Christmas.

“With Christmas being on a Monday, it gives us one more weekend for sales,” Hayes said.

Many store personnel said college students being out of town for Thanksgiving break caused a dip in sales.

Business at Vanity, which sells a lot of merchandise to college and high school students, is affected greatly by the students’ not being in Ames, Paulsrud said. She also said college students tend to wait until closer to the holidays to buy gifts, causing sales to increase throughout December.