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CHARLOTTE -- While many Americans are home for the holidays, many others are working. An increasing number of businesses are staying open for the Christmas holiday, and the day after Christmas is turning into a big shopping day.

It used to be that gas stations, emergency officials and members of the media were the few who worked on Christmas.

But restaurants are increasingly keeping the doors open.

The International House of Pancakes on Independence Blvd. was packed Sunday. The Subway sandwich shop on Kings Dr. in Midtown was open, as was the Emperor Chinese Restaurant next door.

"I'm Jewish," said Michael Gossett, as he ate ribs and pork fried rice. "I celebrated Christmas last night with my girlfriend and she had to work all day today."

Gossett's girlfriend works at the airport and at Blockbuster. Both did not close for the holiday.

The Rainbow clothing store in East Charlotte was open for four hours.

Alicia Grant said she bought a jacket, a shirt, and a couple belts. She said she didn't ask for any presents from anyone, so she wasn't expecting anything.

Grant and her friend, Lean Johnson, said they felt bad about the employees who had to work on Christmas.

"Yeah, I feel bad," said Grant. "But something has to stay open. And they knew it was going to be open when they got the job."

And while most stores are closed for Christmas, many retailers are planning to open extra early on Monday.

Some Target stores are opening at 7:00 a.m.

Wal-Mart and Kohl's will open their doors at 5:00 a-m.

It's part of a push to get those gift cards redeemed and presents exchanged.

"The best gifts come with gift receipts," said Tom Bartholomy, the President and CEO of the Charlotte Better Business Bureau. "The sooner you get to it, the better. Because the refund/exchange policies don’t last forever."

The National Retail Federation said about 35 percent of the people who received gifts for Christmas 2010 returned at least one of the presents.

Retailers predict holiday spending will top $469 billion this year - an increase of almost 4 percent.