Last-minute Christmas shoppers undeterred by road-closures and long lines
Nearly 142 million Americans spent Saturday shopping for last-minute Christmas gifts, according to the National Retail Federation. For some, it was a day of hurry-up and wait for locals who procrastinated on Holiday shopping.
"It was crazy, the parking lot was full and the store was packed. I had never seen the line at TJ Maxx wrap around the store like that," said Michelle Prewitt. And for others, after a few days of rain the allure of open doors and sunshine was too tempting for residents looking to get out of the house.
"They didn't need anything, but I wanted to get the grandkids out," said Eugenia Salazar. "They came all the way here from Washington, drove through rain and flooding and everything. So I had to get them a little something while they're in town." Salazar's family drove though storms and rain from Washington State to spend the holidays in the Coachella Valley.
A few overnight road closures didn't seem to stop another family from Blythe who needed to check items off their Christmas list.
“You know, we came from Blythe so it was a little bit of foggy but other than that great good weather,” said Raichel Sandoval. "It was a bit busy, but as expected, definitely worth getting around the few shut down roads."
One woman was spending the morning looking for a Christmas gift for her best friend. She had already visited two or three stores with little luck.
“We are looking for a sparkly sweater for my best friend," said Brenda Chaney. "It was hard to find parking but I managed to get through the stores just fine".
This year, the amount of shoppers on "Super Saturday" was up about 16-million from the last time it fell on December 23rd, which was back in 2017. Over-all , last minute shoppers are down from the record 158 million last year, largely due to online shopping.
