TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Many last-minute shoppers took to Westshore Mall on Monday to finish some very last-minute Christmas shopping.
The mall is open extended hours until 10 p.m. Monday, but will close at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
That meant the rush was on for many folks to finish their purchases.
Chris Culbertson still had a few items to get for his wife, as well as stocking stuffers.
He said he was at the mall to “tie up a few loose ends,” but relied on his wife to get most of the things they needed.
“I was looking online and didn’t really find what I was looking for online. Sometimes the stores, you see something and you say, ‘oh, that would be cool!’ So just, I don’t know, stores still work out for me,” Culbertson said.
Rolfe Thompson was having a more relaxing last-minute shopping experience, as he took a few days off work. He said he also prefers to shop in a store than via Amazon.
Thompson says shopping at the mall wasn’t too much of a hassle.
“It’s less crowded than I thought it would be. So, and I imagine that’s a function of people [shopping] online. But I prefer to get out in the stores and touch and feel,” Culbertson said.
But not all Tampa Bay shoppers were procrastinators.
Deana and Jori Smiley are from Indiana. Deana said she had gifts shipped to her brother’s house here in the Tampa Bay area.
“So we don’t live here, so we have to take every present back home. So I had a lot of presents shipped here, but then my last-minute, like my brother lives here, so I have to get all his presents here. So it’s a lot easier just to buy here,” Smiley explained.
8 On Your Side’s J.B. Biunno has compiled a list of store hours for Christmas Eve, if you are a shopping waiting for the absolute last-minute to snag that perfect gift.