Wednesday, December 23, 2009

With less than 48 hours until their Christmas Day deadline, many southern Colorado shoppers are out in full force. "Yeah, it's crunch time," says last-minute shopper, Janette Reinert.

It doesn't matter if they've procrastinated until the last minute or if they just got off a plane from Atlanta, as is the case for Matt Dejean, the reality is, there are empty spaces under several Christmas trees. Dejean's solution, "I'm gonna get some blue-ray movies and some video games as well." Not bad, considering many other shoppers 11 News talked to say gift cards are their preferred last-minute present solution.

Other ideas were Colorado Lottery Scratch Game tickets and gift certificates to local restaurants. Still, some last-minute shoppers aren't sweating under the pressure. They say, it's because they have a plan. "I'm probably just going to do baskets... gift baskets, something like that," says Tanya Trujillo-Nieto.

For every shopper who's finished their Christmas shopping early, it seems there are several others who've waited until the clock's nearly run out to begin their gift buying blitz. Tami Montoya says, she's never finished her Christmas shopping early, "I like the drama of pushing it to the last minute." For Montoya, waiting is as much a gamble as a strategic move to stretch her dollars. "I got two pair of shoes for the price of one. I would have paid $160, instead I paid $80," says Montoya.

As for whether or not last-minute shoppers should be concerned about the availability of quality gifts, Montoya says, "Oh it's beyond time to panic!"