Black Friday was not as bad as many retailers had expected. One estimate shows American shoppers spent 3 percent more on the first day of the holiday shopping season than last year. To find out how some retailers did, we check in with a high-end mall in a St. Louis suburb, an outlet mall in San Marcos, Texas and online retailer in Boston.

Matt Sepic reports for member station KWMU.

Nathan Bernier reports for member station KUT.

Kurt Nickisch reports for member station WBUR.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.