King Street awoke Friday to a different kind of holiday rush. Christmas morning’s unwrapping complete, shoppers descended on Charleston’s main retail corridor with exchanges in hand and markdown hunting on their minds.

The day after Christmas has evolved into its own retail event. Stores that closed early for Christmas Eve reopened to extended hours, clearing holiday inventory with aggressive discounts while processing the inevitable returns and exchanges.

For King Street’s mix of national chains and local boutiques, the week between Christmas and New Year’s can make or break quarterly numbers. Shoppers flush with gift cards provide revenue without the earlier promotional pressure. Clearance sales move inventory that would otherwise carry into January at deeper discounts.

The dynamic differs by store type. National retailers compete on price, slashing percentages to move volume. Local boutiques leverage relationships and unique merchandise, betting that the personal touch earns margin that survives the season.

Foot traffic patterns shifted through the day. Morning brought the exchange crowd, items in bags, receipts in hand, efficiently handling retail’s post-gift reconciliation. Afternoon saw more browsing as shoppers out for walks wandered into stores offering deals.

Restaurant traffic picked up as shopping worked up appetites. The extended holiday weekend meant visitors still in town, adding to demand that kept hosts busy through dinner service.

By evening, shopping bags outnumbered return bags on the sidewalks. Whatever was exchanged had been replaced with something new. The retail machine had processed another Christmas’s aftermath and emerged, by most accounts, with a solid day’s take.