The Friday after Thanksgiving is a big occasion for retailers every year.

Shoppers come out to find good deals on Black Friday and to get a head start on Christmas shopping.

Coupled with Buy Local Day on Saturday, the increase in business held true for the Washington area, as well.

Mitchell Peoples, who works at Washington Jewelers on Main Street, said the store had a successful Black Friday. The jewelry store was already experiencing higher volumes of customers because of its going-out-of-business sale.

“The store stayed full all day,” Peoples said. “We are very blessed to have such a great following of customers from Washington and the surrounding areas.”

He said Washington Jewelers’ entire inventory is selling quickly — men’s and women’s, from diamond rings to watches.

Russell Smith, owner of Russell’s Men’s Shop in downtown Washington, said his store has seen the same positive interest from shoppers.

“We were really busy Friday, and we’ve been very busy today,” Smith said. “It exceeded my expectations.”

According to data from the National Retail Foundation, Black Friday remains the most popular shopping day for consumers across all age groups.

After profits took a nosedive in 2008, NRF reports that they have been on the uptick since, growing by 4.1 percent in 2014 and another 3.7 percent last year.

There is also an increase in the number of online shoppers across the country. Thirty-six percent of consumers plan to shop online this holiday season — up from last year’s 34 percent, according to NRF data.

Online sales can often hurt businesses, especially smaller ones, but Smith said he thinks the Buy Local Day promotion helped entice shoppers to stay local.

“November and December are a couple of our biggest months,” he said. “A lot of people downtown. … I think the ‘shop small’ deal is very nice.”

Smith said he has had several customers tell him they are making the effort to shop local this holiday season, and for an individual retailer such as Russell’s, that makes a world of difference.

“I think people make an effort to shop small,” Smith said. “It means a lot.”