(Image soure: The New York Times)

BY ADAM FALK

Black Friday was no blackout. As you might have heard-- a lot of retailers opened earlier this year--  and crowds weren’t shy about crossing items off their lists. CNN has the numbers.

“Retailers took in a total of $52.4 billion from Thursday through Sunday. That’s what the National Retail Federation says. That’s up about $7.5 billion from last year, according to the trade group. No idea where people are getting that money. It’s probably from savings accounts or credit cards.”

Shopper’s open wallets and full shopping bags led to a 7% increase in sales over last year. But before getting too optimistic about the economy, Fox News’ Stuart Varney lays down his best Grinchy forecast.

“Do we really think we’re going to get a 7% gain for the entire holiday season? Probably not. It may be that a lot of people came out for these door-buster bargains. So they flooded the stores, spent the money but it won’t be repeated in coming days.”

What else did we learn from Black Friday? That it isn’t just for gift-givers, it’s for patient shoppers.

An analyst on CNBC says this year, 44% bought for themselves -- up 12% from last year.

“The consumer has basically stopped spending these last few months to wait for these deals. ... Basically it’s now red Friday because what’s happening in essence is they now have to catch up after that.”

Still, the foot-traffic is undeniable. A Mall of America spokesperson told the Star Tribune the mega mall broke its record and saw 10,000 more visitors this year. CNET reports website traffic was up too.

According to ComScore...

“Consumers in the U.S. spent $816 million online on Black Friday, a 26 percent increase over 2010’s Black Friday. … Amazon.com once again led the pack, with 50 percent more visitors than any other retailer, while also showing the highest growth rate versus last year.”

Monday is the big day for online shoppers. Market research film IBIS World predicts a 12.4% increase in Cyber Monday purchases. TIME reports last year sales jumped 20%.

“Nearly every retailer with an online presence will host special promotions or discounts, and the rise in sales is expected to surpass even that of Black Friday.”