It was Elly Karpouzis' fourth trip to Park City Center in the past week, but she couldn't have been happier on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

"I just got a pair of shoes for $7," she gushed. "That's a good deal!"

Merchants appeared to be nearly as pleased as Karpouzis as crowds of shoppers turned out in search of day-after-Christmas bargains.

During a year in which recession-driven consumer caution put a damper on holiday sales nationwide and snow stranded many Lancaster County shoppers at home the final weekend before Christmas, the busy day was a welcome development.

Karpouzis, of Millersville, had spent two hours searching out bargains with her sister Chrysanthi Karpouzis and friend Maria Bougiamas; and the three young women were planning to be at it hours more as they discussed which stores had 50-percent-or-more-off signs in their windows.

"We came here to return a lot of stuff," Bougiamas said. "You return it and you buy more. You use more money than what you get [for the returns]."

Across town at Tanger Outlet Center it was a similar story with Kristin Wright, of Columbia, who was doing other shopping after exchanging a gift.

Wright said she doesn't usually follow the crowds back to the stores the day after Christmas, but she was pleased with the experience.

"It's been very nice," she said. "We didn't wait in lines at all, although parking was a bit of a problem."

Not everyone was after bargains.

Mike Gockley, of Mount Joy, and Paul Hamilton, of Maytown, who were unacquainted before Saturday, were taking it easy lounging on benches in Park City Center, something of an annual tradition for both men.

"My wife and her friend are shopping, and I'm just the chauffeur," said Gockley, who had several bags of merchandise nearby that his wife, Linda, had purchased.

Hamilton was also waiting for his wife. "I think it's busier today than a normal day after Christmas," he said as he watched the crowds stroll by.

Carol Nowakowski, assistant manager at Boscov's, was pleased by how busy the mall had been.

"It's always good when the day after Christmas is a weekend," she said. "People don't have to work. [They] can take care of their exchanges ... and find something else right away."

That, along with the bargains and gift cards, which have become very popular in recent years, were bringing a lot of people out to shop, she said.

"It's been very busy," said Maria Colon, a clerk at Day by Day Calendar Co. in Park City. "I'm very busy, more than what I have been the last couple of weeks."

Brisk was how merchants at Tanger Outlet Center were describing it, said Chuck Simmons, the center's general manager.

"There were exchanges, but there were a lot of gift cards being utilized," he said.

"I think everything was as expected," Simmons said, "My guess is [area retailers] were all busy today. ... We've been blessed."

A magnet
Some shoppers had come considerable distances to take advantage of the bargains.

"The sales are the best the day after Christmas," said Shanelle Simms, of Washington, D.C. "I bought accessories and body jewelry and smell goods."

It's an annual exodus for Simms, who had been visiting her sisters for Christmas.

"They live in York, but they come here," she said. "That's all I hear about is Park City."

Richard Allen, of New York, who was carrying a number of bags at Tanger Outlet Center, said it was his second year shopping in Lancaster while visiting his wife's family in Harrisburg for the holidays.

The purchases were about a 50/50 split between merchandise for himself and for his wife, he said.

"We'll probably make a tradition of it," Allen said. "We come in and stock up on a year's worth of clothes and sports gear."

Are the prices better than in New York?

"By a country mile," he said.