If you must shop on Christmas Day...
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Hoping for a sales boost, some major retailers kept their doors open on Thanksgiving. But that’s not going to happen on Christmas. So if you’re really late doing your shopping, you’ll have few choices beyond the usual minimarts, drug stores, video rental outlets and perhaps some mom and pop stores.
Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove said all stores will open from noon to 10 p.m. Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin said its estimated 1,600 24-hour stores will have pharmacies open. The remaining 5,000 stores, Polzin said, will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. without pharmacy services. Rite Aid spokeswoman Cheryl Slavinsky said only their 24-hour stores will be open. All the other stores, Slavinsky said, will close Christmas Eve at 6 p.m.
A recent report from the National Retail Federation said more consumers this year have delayed their shopping. Reports from both the International Council of Shopping Centers and Thomson Reuters on the holiday shopping season aren’t released yet. But Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White doesn’t need to consult them before summing up how the holiday shopping season fared in 2008.
“It’s the most difficult time we’ve experienced in retailing since the Great Depression,” she said.
Despite the grim economic outlook, no major chains appear to have decided to stay open on Christmas in hopes of luring more last-minute shoppers. Spokespeople for Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Nordstrom, Kmart and Sears said their stores will be closed on Christmas. All of them said store officials never discussed the possibility of staying open on Dec. 25.
“Our company is big in giving time to certain sacred days,” said Margie Kenney, manager of a Best Buy on La Brea Avenue. in West Hollywood. “We want to give our employees time to spend with their family.”
-- Mark Medina