Area merchants report a brisk Black Friday, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year and sometimes a harbinger of things to come.

When the country is in recession, retailers pull out all the stops on the day after Thanksgiving, hoping to lure shoppers not only for advertised specials, but for other purchases in the store.

Locally merchants are no different.

And it’s often possible to gauge the short-term economic future by talking with some of these merchants. When times are bad, with the fear of worse times yet to come, merchants often report a heavy day on Black Friday, though lower volume than in recent years.

That has been the case for area merchants over the past couple of Christmas seasons. But this year perhaps the tide is turning. Area retailers reported good sales on Friday, in many cases better than last year.

That is key — sales growth over the previous year. Perhaps that means local shoppers are simply staying home with their money. Maybe it means the local economy is starting to pick up (other factors, including new companies coming to the area would seem to support this). Then again, maybe it is a combination of both — local residents keeping more of their shopping dollars in the community while also increasing their spending a bit this year with the hope of an improving economy spurring this decision.

Whatever the cause, we believe this is another sign the local economy is picking up steam, and portends a strong 2010.