"Overall, the trends we observed this weekend are consistent with our expectations of 4% sales growth and 15% online sales growth for the 2012 holiday shopping season," said Charlie O'Shea, Vice President -- Senior Analyst at Moody's and author of the report.

Many retailers opened early during the holiday, which Moody's defines as opening before midnight on Thanksgiving night for brick-and-mortar retailers. For online retailers, the rating agency defines opening early as offering specials on Thanksgiving Day.

"Retailers that opened early seemed to get a jump on those that delayed their openings until early Black Friday morning. We believe the early opening trend is accelerating. Consumers seem to like the option of segueing right from Thanksgiving dinner to shopping and buying," O'Shea said.

Moody's noted that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stood out by opening at 8 pm on Thanksgiving, potentially usurping momentum from later-opening retailers. The analysts' limited sample of visits suggests that Wal-Mart received much greater traffic than at the 10 pm opening in 2011, an observation that the company has publicly confirmed.

"The one downside to the early openings was a lull in the stores on Friday afternoon and Saturday. While this is typical, it seemed to be exacerbated by the early openings as mall traffic seemed to slow as the weekend wore on. Nevertheless, given the preliminary positive comments made by retailers that opened early, we feel that the Thanksgiving Day openings are likely here to stay, with ever-earlier openings and online activity," said O'Shea.

Promotional activity seemed to run about even with last year, Moody's said, with consumer electronics led by flat-panel TVs continuing their prominent role in driving store traffic.

On the apparel front, department store operators such as Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corporation opened early, and promotions ranged up to 65% off for private-label apparel and accessories. Overall inventories in this segment seem well-controlled, as Moody's analysts observed fewer clearance racks compared to last year.

For more information, Moody's research subscribers can access this report at http://www.moodys.com/research/US-Retail-Thanksgiving-Weekend-The-Early-Bird-Gets-the-Worm--PBC_147775.

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