 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Some buyers make last day the busiest
By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT and CHASE SQUIRES There is hanging stockings, there is caroling, and then there is Tom Meinhold's very own Christmas tradition: last-minute shopping. "I always do this," said Meinhold, 41, a service adviser with Ferman Chevrolet who left Target in Port Richey on Monday with two armloads of gifts. "This way I don't have time to make choices, just got to get it 'cause I'm out of time. And there are some really good discounts." Meinhold was one of the legions of shoppers who flocked to stores Monday to get last-minute stocking stuffers, decide on just the right gift after weeks of deliberation, or pick up that one last thing on the list that had not yet been crossed out. It was make or break time -- and not just for the shoppers. Sales in the first three weeks of the 32-day Christmas shopping season were 3 percent lower than last year's, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That's compared with a 2.2 percent gain in 2000 for the season and a 7 percent gain in 1999. Sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas can compose nearly 25 percent of annual sales for retailers. Last year, the largest portion of the season's sales -- 30 percent -- came during the seven days before Christmas. Traditionally, the biggest shopping day of the season is the Saturday before Christmas. The shoppers who did brave the stores Monday found deep discounts, whether it was the $59 Rockin' Rhythms Digital Percussion set marked down to $29 at Kay Bee Toys in Gulf View Square Mall or the buy two, get the third free offer on Dr. Seuss at Waldenbooks. For Nivia Jacobs, 52, procrastination paid off. She'd found the Play n' Learn keyboard at Target for $7 cheaper than the one she already bought somewhere else, and she planned to return the other one. "I've done some shopping but it never seems to be enough," she said. But for Mary Phillip, 49, in town from California to visit her kids, the down-to-the-wire buying wasn't something she would do again. Morning was nearly over, and she was still on the fence about a Remington electric shaver for her husband -- as a thoughtful way to encourage him to shave on the weekends. "I didn't want to bring stuff on the plane, but this is just a bit stressful," Phillip said. "You want to make a good decision." Jessica Russo, 22, an elementary school teacher from Port Richey, was at wits' end on a present for her best friend. She finally landed at the end of a six-person line for Simon Mall gift certificates. "She has everything, so this is my last resort," Russo said. While major strip centers and even grocery stores were packed with last-minute holiday shoppers, visitors to downtown Dade City found a slower pace, even on Christmas Eve. "We're done," said Robert Messer, emerging from Lori Anne's gift shop with packages. "We're officially done." Messer and his wife, Loretta, of Dade City said they made their last trips to department stores earlier and wouldn't dare go near them on Christmas Eve because of the crowds. But in small-town Dade City, parking was easy to find and the crowds were small. "You come down here, you get things a little more personal," Loretta Messer said. Their final haul included an extremely fat stuffed toy cat and a puzzle. Many restaurants downtown were closed for the holiday, but on N Seventh Street, a line of customers streamed out of San Ann Chef bakery. Co-owner Natalie Pyche said her crew had been working 17-hour days to meet all the holiday orders. "Anything you can possibly think of, we've been making it," she said. Pyche said even her family got in on the work, with her 6-year-old son, T.J., assembling boxes. The youngest Pyche, 2-year-old Tyler, will also be getting an early introduction to the family business, his mother said. For Christmas he's getting a toy kitchen and mixer.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times Jan Glidewell |
