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Chip Hearn knows what you did at your work computer Monday. And he promises not to tell your boss.

Surreptitious online holiday shopping may not be the most honorable use of company time, but it is helping lift the fortunes of Hearn and many other local retailers at a precarious time in the nation's economy.

For Hearn, who runs the Peppers.com hot-sauce site from Rehoboth Beach, Monday's touted start of the online holiday shopping season -- known as "Cyber Monday" -- is more of a marketing shtick than a real phenomenon. He's been busy since the nation started digesting its turkey Thursday night.

The day after Thanksgiving has long been known as "Black Friday" in reference to retailers' numbers being in the black, or showing a profit. But recently, that name could be referenced more to the darkness of the night, when shoppers begin nabbing holiday bargains.

Stores at Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach will open at midnight Thanksgiving night.

"It's a fun event," said Susan Katz of Centreville, Md. "You think you'd get a lot of stuff done by getting there early, but the lines are as bad as they are during the day. One year, the parking lots were full and we couldn't go."

While a tight economy might cause most households to rein in the spending overall this holiday season, consumers typically adapt and get creative to make the most of their holiday budgets. The dramatic shift this year is where shoppers will spend their money, and according to research, it will be in discount stores and outlet centers. That is the emerging strategy that Americans will employ to keep their holiday traditions alive.