What panic? Local shoppers say their gifts were wrapped long ago

Presents don’t buy themselves, especially at the last minute, but it would seem that Manatee County shoppers know that already.

National Retail Federation analysts predicted about 126 million people would hit the stores on the last Saturday before Christmas, which has been dubbed Super Saturday.

“Even though many consumers got a head start with holiday shopping early in the season, millions more are leaving their gift buying to the last minute and beyond,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

That’s not how local shoppers roll, though, as plenty said they had already finished shopping for gifts by Saturday.

Nationally, the NRF projects that 16 percent of consumers would buy their last holiday gifts on Super Saturday, but at Ellenton Premium Outlets, shoppers were panic-free.

Jeff Placek said he knew what gifts his family wanted about a month ago, so he handled it back then. Other shoppers echoed his sentiments and said last-minute shopping just isn’t for them.

“We’re not really here for last-minute shopping, but we have a tradition of coming out here and getting an ornament,” said Linera Burke, an Ellenton shopper.

She said she enjoys the Christmas season too much to find shopping stressful, especially when she got it all done a few weeks ago.

“I did a lot of my shopping online and since I have family in the North, I have to ship, so I have to make sure I get those off,” Burke said.

Burke’s use of shopping on the internet follows a national trend, according to the NRF. Fifty-one percent of consumers planned to utilize online shopping for their last-minute needs.

“Similar to what we saw over Thanksgiving weekend, consumers are leveraging their smartphones to guide them on their final purchases for the holidays,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper, a business development company.

Burke’s Christmas shopping might be finished, but she said it’s just getting started for her husband, Mark. He said he tagged along so he could buy a gift that she was sure to approve of.

A Canadian shopper, who declined to give his name, said his family is visiting Florida for the holidays but all their Christmas shopping was done back home.

“We’re spending Christmas here, so we did all of our shopping and gift giving in advance,” he said.

While last-minute shopping didn’t seem to be a popular theme in one the area’s largest shopping centers, the rush to capitalize on after-holiday deals might be. According to the NRF, 47 percent of consumers plan to do after-Christmas shopping in stores and 46 percent will do so online.

This story was originally published December 23, 2017 at 8:11 PM with the headline "What panic? Local shoppers say their gifts were wrapped long ago."