Around the nation, shoppers rushed to stores as they searched for the perfect Christmas gift. 

Retailers, however, got their Christmas present this year.

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which gives insights in spending trends around the nation, United States consumers spent more than $850 billion, a 5.1 percent increase from last year. 

Some local retail stores said they also saw good sales. 

Robin Blackwell, owner of Corner Nest Antique Mall, said the business did well this season in sales. 

“Sales were good,” she said. “We sold a little bit of everything.”

Also in downtown Elizabethton, Simple Blessings General Store, owned by Rita Russell, saw a slight increase in December sales for 2018 while seeing a slight decrease in November sales. 

“I think a lot of people did more online shopping this year,” said Russell. “When they did shop, they didn’t buy as large as purchases.”

Russell also said that Downtown Christmas Open House was down this year. 

“A lot of the other businesses I talked with said they had the same experiences,” said Russell. “We weren’t off very much but some.”

Simple Blessing ended up breaking last week’s sales compared to last year as last-minute shoppers hit stores.

“Last-minute shoppers boosted things up,” said Russell. 

Kristie Carr, co-owner of HIS Space Christian Store, said that it was the business’ second Christmas season and that sales were better this time around. 

According to the Mastercard SpendingPulse report, this year’s growth in spending was the best in six years. In apparel, sales were up 7.9 percent compared to 2017 while home improvement sales were up nine percent. Department stores were down 1.3 percent while electronic sales were down .7 percent.