Fears of falling off the fiscal cliff were expected to hurt holiday sales. But locally, that was not the case.

The management at Holly Hill Mall in Burlington says that sales were better this holiday season than in recent years.

Samantha Story, a sales associate at Fashion Express in Holly Hill Mall says she was very surprised by the holiday turn out.

"They were super busy all the time, like the entire store was filled with people," Story said.

The same was true at other stores.

Levarrick Enoch, Manager of the Burlington Brands, said his store had a great holiday season.

"This year we really ran through those numbers, almost doubled the numbers to be honest with you, so the parking lot was full every night," Enoch said.

Holly Hill Mall management says the success is due to many new stores brought to the mall by new ownership. In three years, the number of stores has nearly tripled.

"Holly Hill Mall hasn't been this way probably for the past 10 to 12 years. I've been here my whole life in Burlington and it's really good to see people come out to the Holly Hill Mall again," Enoch said.

Nationally, the International Council of Shopping Centers says that overall revenue for November and December rose more than three percent from last year.

Many Holly Hill Mall customers say the economy was not a factor in their holiday spending.

Holly Hill customer Lisa Harris said she was not worried about tax increases.

"For me, it's not so much what's going on in the news that pretty much dictates how I'm going to spend, it's pretty much what my salary is, and what I plan to do," Harris said.

Holly Hill customer John Fletcher says he tries to support the local businesses as much as possible even with threats of the fiscal cliff.

"I just hope people that they do have the extra money that they try to still maintain some sort of posture to support the local store and things like that cause that's what really supports our finances and everything," Fletcher said.

The mall also offered Santa Claus photos and sold Christmas trees outside the mall. Management believes both of those efforts helped boost traffic and sales.