Christmas shoppers hit the stores in force this weekend with the start of the holiday shopping season. An estimated $59.1 billion was spent nationwide in holiday shopping. Area stores held promotions and specials to entice shoppers to spend their dollars locally.

On Monday, Princeton Walmart manager Dave Jensen said this year’s shopping crowd seemed to be a bit larger than last year. Walmart offered its specials at 8 and 10 p.m. Thursday and again at 5 a.m. Friday. Electronics continue to be the big drawing card for Christmas sales, he said.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the Christmas shopping season, Jensen said he expects the shopping to remain fairly steady with the typical increased shopping during that last couple days before Christmas. Weekends remain the busiest shopping times as more people are off work.