Knightdale — Lured by sales and their passion for Hallmark Christmas ornaments, Sandra and Roger Shearin of Cary made their way to the Shoppes at Midway last week for their seventh stop at a Hallmark shop in a day.

“We’re looking for three particular Hallmark ornaments,” said Sandra, a collector who belongs to the Capital Collection Club, made up of devotees of the ornaments. “They are 50 percent off. Instead of paying $24, you pay $12.”

Shoppers with a mission like the Shearin’s and those just passing the time descended on local stores through rain the day after Christmas, one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

“It’s just a little fun time together with my daughter,” said Linda Pearson of Zebulon who pushed a buggy through Target with her daughter, Amy Speares of Edwards Airforce Base, California.

“We just had the chance to be together and go shopping,” said Speares, who doesn’t often get time with her mother on the east coast.

Stores throughout the Triangle including those in eastern Wake County slashed prices and opened early in anticipation for a big day of shopping.

“We’ve got our red dot clearance sale just for today where you take an additional 50 percent off,”said Robin Jackson, the store manager at Hudson Belk in Zebulon. Hudson said stores opened at 6 a.m. and shoppers who arrived before 10 a.m. could take an additional 20 percent off.

“It’s been pretty steady,” she said. “A lot of people are taking advantage of the after Christmas sales. Normally, we open early the day after Christmas.”

While the National Retail Federation that tracks retail sales nationwide won’t know how well retailers did until Jan. 15, the anticipation for sales this year are not as good as last year, said Kathy Grannis, media relations manager at NRF.

“NRF is forecasting holiday sales to rise 4 percent this year, compared to the five percent we forecast last year. Actual holiday sales increased 4.6 percent in 2006,” she said.

“Some retailers may have missed their mark, but this week can account for 15 percent of holiday sales for retailers, so there’s still a few days for retailers to entice shoppers into their stores with discounted apparel and other seasonal merchandise,” Grannis added.

Jessica Murphy, a store manager at Target, said her store did just that with Christmas items it slashed fifty percent.

“We actually had about 50 people waiting outside this morning before we opened, and they all came back for Christmas clearance,” she said.

Target opened an hour earlier at 7 a.m. and closed an hour later at 10 p.m. the day after Christmas, Murphy said.

Murphy said normally the store sees a lot of returns the day after Christmas, but that was down this year.

“I don’t know if it’s because we had a higher number of gift cards purchased than average,” she said.

And Murphy said people were redeeming their gift cards among other things at Target last Wednesday.

“I came in to exchange pajamas and blue jeans that I bought for her,” said Olga Ruiz, of daughter, Raquel.

“Deals, the deals,” one woman quipped about what brought her out as she exited Target.

“We’re here for the 50 percent off Christmas things,” said Joanna Meredith of Knightdale, who made a few purchases at Michael’s before heading to Target to look around,“to see what deals you can get.”

Everything in Ross Clothing Store at Shoppes at Midway was reduced except children’s shoes, said Lynn Perry, the manager.

“We’re doing markdowns now for after Christmas from 20 to 75 percent off,” she said.

“We’re seeing lots of people, but not as many as during Christmas,” she said.

But shoppers like Alicia Matkowski are what retailer’s were hoping for.

Matkowski came out to Target for something she needed -- medicine for her daughter, Shane, and stayed.

“I can’t resist the prices,”she said, arms full of Christmas wrapping paper.