After enjoying turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce, millions of Americans took to the malls the day after Thanksgiving to get a jump start on holiday shopping.

Historically, Thanksgiving has been followed by the official beginning of the shopping season, although brightly colored Christmas trees have adorned stores for weeks.

This year, the post-Thanksgiving shopping fervor was fueled by high-spending consumers, vaulting sales in Midwest retail stores 6.5 percent over last year, according to a study conducted by First Data Corp’s Telecheck Services, Inc.

The study, which compared spending in about 27,000 stores nationwide, showed a 6.4 percent increase nationally.

Ames stores saw the same increased wave of shoppers but noticed a smaller rise in sales.

“It’s something a lot of people do the day after Thanksgiving,” said Tracy Hudson, manager of Northern Reflections in North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave. “We saw an increase in sales compared with last year.”

Other stores in North Grand Mall, including Vanity and Express, experienced sales increases last Friday and continuing through the Thanksgiving weekend.

While mall traffic was high, some stores did not see the record sales increases that were expected.

“We were busy, but it wasn’t the day we planned,” said Robin Peter, manager of Lane Bryant. “The mall was packed, but in our sales we weren’t any busier than last year.”

Peter suspected the mild weather as the culprit for limiting local shopping.

“While the weather is good, people can travel to Des Moines to do their shopping,” she said. “Also, when it is cold, people are more geared toward buying sweaters and coats.”

Diane Handelan, manager of Maurices, agreed the weather affected local sales.

“There are a variety of reasons, but weather has a lot to do with shopping in Ames,” she said. “When it is nice, people don’t shop as much here.”

While the weather may have prompted people to travel, a greater force attracted consumers to Target, 320 S. Duff Ave. Pok‚mon merchandise, part of the popular craze that has captivated America’s youth, has drawn bewildered parents to Target, said Christine Ihle of Target’s human resources.

“The Pok‚mon give-aways drew a big crowd,” she said. “It was a really busy day for us, and the shoppers were very much in the holiday spirit.”