New Year's Eve is the next holiday on our list, but based on the number of shoppers around town today, many still had Christmas on their minds.

Many stores in the mall opened early this morning to welcome shoppers, but it was a slow start for some. Once everyone woke up from their Christmas slumbers, it was all about spending the gift cards and Christmas money.

Even if you had one too many cups of eggnog last night...

"We had a little bit of a slow start, I think people were just recuperating from the holiday," Cabela's retail events coordinator Mark Sutton said.

You weren't dreaming. Those lines at the store today? Yep, they were real.

"[The crowds are] getting worse now that it's later in the day," shopper Brooks Tobin said.

It may have taken a few hours to get going, but shoppers came out in full force for the day-after-Christmas sales.

"Maybe if someone didn't get something on that list that they wanted, and we've got some great things on sale people are coming down to come pick those up," Best Buy manager Kerry Phillips said.

"Most of our warm weather stuff is on sale right now. Our coats, our hats, our scarves, sweaters. I think it's just people have that money right now and want to spend it," added The Buckle's manager Michelle Hemmer.

Some couldn't wait to spend the money they just received.

"I would imagine there's quite a few gift cards getting cashed in today," Phillips said.

"We've got a lot of people in the store, they're redeeming gift cards or spending that money that got for Christmas," Sutton added.

And even though a Consumer Reports poll said one in five adults would receive a disappointing gift...

"There's not much of a line for returns or exchanges," Sutton said.

An American Express poll found 57 percent of Americans would shop the day after Christmas, perhaps supported by the fact that this year, the 26th fell on a Monday.

"Usually, most of the time when we go shopping the day after Christmas, there's hardly anybody. But I guess with it being Monday and people have the day off, everyone's out," shopper Michelle Mancuso said.

Shoppers have less than a week until the new year begins, so if you don't have gift cards or extra Christmas money to spend, you can always use that as your next excuse to shop.

A few stores will have later hours for the rest of the week, and many are expecting great business. They ask that you bring in your merchandise with some sort of receipt if you plan on doing a return or exchange to help the process go faster.

That same American Express poll found the majority of people wanted to shop today to buy something for themselves or to use up those gift cards.