Santa and his reindeer have breathed a sigh of relief, but the holiday stampede continues for local retailers as consumers are returning gifts, using their gift certificates and spending Christmas cash.

"This is prime time for people to buy more," Connie Daniels, co-manager of the Ironton Hills Catos, said.

The store was not overwhelmed with returns Thursday, but Daniels said she anticipates more people to arrive with them this weekend because many were back to work right after Christmas. Nevertheless, she said the store management looks forward to after-Christmas exchanges because some people tend to buy more than the amount for which they are exchanging.

Bambi Henson, customer service manager for the Wal-Mart store in Burlington, said her store has not seen heavy return traffic. The store had six open registers for returns when it reopened at 6 a.m. Thursday, and she said they could have just opened three. However, the store was incredibly busy the week before Christmas with customers making early returns along with last-minute Christmas shoppers.

Nevertheless, she anticipated a busy weekend.

"Saturday and Sunday, we expect to get hit really hard," she said.

Other retail workers in the Tri-State area are sweating already.

"We're just wild," Prudence Short, manager of the Barboursville, W.Va., Target said.

Part of the traditional return crowd has also been replaced by gift-certificate buyers, Tammy Holbrook, marketing director for the Ashland Town Center, said. Gift certificate sales at the Town Center were "tremendous" this year, up by 14 to 15 percent, she said.

The Huntington Mall in Barboursville, W.Va., has seen a "substantial" increase in gift certificate purchases, and the mall was quite busy Thursday, marketing director Teresa Ramella said. This gives mall employees only Christmas to rest because of a substantial increase in last-minute Christmas shoppers this year.

One big problem in returning gifts is that gift givers remember to include an elaborate bow on top of the wrapping paper -- but no receipt and sometimes, no tag. The retail managers said gifts with no receipts can be exchanged, and some of the stores offer gift cards which can be used at any of their stores. In the case of no tags, the store employees will generally have to verify that item came from their store before exchanging it.

Short said her store's first Christmas season is not a reflection of a poor national economy.

Tammy Holbrook, marketing director for the Ashland Town Center, said her store is not a reflection of the national forecast, either. Last week, retail sales were approximately $210,000, up from $188,000 last year. The mall is now operating at almost 100 percent capacity, while most other malls across the country do not.