Stores extend hours for last-minute Christmas shopping

It could be argued that there are two kinds of people in this world – those who start stacking gifts under the Christmas tree well ahead of the holiday and those who wait until the last minute.

If you are the latter, then don’t worry, you aren’t the only one. The days leading up to Christmas are often some of the busiest shopping days of the year with stores like Kohl’s staying open for 83 hours straight starting at 7 a.m. this morning and extended hours at malls and other stores.

The National Retail Federation forecasted that holiday retail sales this year would increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over 2017 for a total of $717.5 billion to $720.9 billion. Holiday sales totaled $687.9 billion in 2017.

“Last year’s strong results were thanks to growing wages, stronger employment and higher confidence, complemented by anticipation of tax cuts that led consumers to spend more than expected,” said NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz.

Despite the high numbers forecasted by the NRF, a recent Bankrate survey based on 1,000 interviews nationwide found that more than 2 in 5 gift shoppers feel pressured to reach deeper into their wallets than they would like with parents and middle-income earners feeling the most holiday pressure.

While many are eager to wake up Christmas morning and finally unwrap the gifts that have been awaiting them for weeks (or maybe just days) under the tree, fighting long store lines and/or keeping up with the Joneses doesn’t sound appealing to some local residents who have found alternative gift ideas or are giving no gifts at all.

Some do it to fight consumerism and spend more meaningful time with their loved ones while others have opted out for the money-saving factor.

Martha Hunter works at Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center, which just published a gift guide that includes some items useful for outdoor recreation but also encourages people to gift experiences and give back through donations, Hunter said.

“It’s not strictly no-gift, but the inspiration behind the guide was really to get people outside spending time with each other,” she said.

On a personal note, Hunter said her mother made homemade gifts this year, including dried fruit, elderberry syrup, granola and more. Anything that she bought was handmade locally, Hunter said.

In fact, many locals are baking their Christmas presents this year, including Mary Barnett and her partner who bake and give their friends “savory shortbreads.” For each other, they bought a family membership to Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center.

“The gift of the solace of nature is priceless – not to mention supporting a great organization,” Barnett said.

Lauren Stevens and Shea Howard said they both stopped buying gifts for their extended families years ago and started donating more to charities and people in need.

“Instead, we all put in whatever money we would have spent and give it to someone we know who needs it,” Howard said. “It feels way better blessing someone who can really use it and no one misses the impersonal obligation of exchanging gifts.”

When she was in high school, Katie Hinson’s family decided to start taking trips together instead of giving gifts, allowing them to all be together and experience Christmas in a new way each year, she said. This year they are heading off to Orlando, but in the past they’ve been to Puerto Rico, Colorado, St. Thomas, New Orleans, Charleston, Turks & Caicos and even Iceland.

Here is what some others are doing for the holiday season:

“My mom, in her 90’s, volunteers at a hospital thrift store, and our FAVORITE gifts are the ‘brown bag thrift store treasures’ she gathers across the year. She gives one to every relative and several friends – about 50 brown bags with beautiful ribbons. She still insists on getting other gifts, but all we really want are her carefully chosen treasures,” said Carol Lockrow.

“My husband and I decided to not buy any Christmas gifts for each other this year, and instead we had a special date night on the town. After dropping our son off with his grandparents, we ate dinner at Alimentari, had a drink at the Westin hotel by the fire and then saw Harry Connick Jr. at the Tivoli,” said Kara Matthews.

“We have opted out of gifts this year – just this year, not forever, and not because of any moral high ground we live hours away from our families, our boys are little (and) this may be the last year both toddlers are blissfully unaware of gifts. We are taking a long weekend roadtripping to a beach,” said Katherine Berry.

Contact staff writer Allison Shirk Collins at ashirk@timesfreepress.com, @AllisonSCollins or 423-757-6651.