Last-Minute Christmas Shoppers Flock To Utica Square Stores

Many families spent their Christmas Eve doing their last-minute shopping.

We've all heard the saying 'Better late than never,' well, Thursday, the shoppers at Utica Square were putting that into practice - and the local stores couldn't have been happier.

All the shoppers we met didn’t shy away from admitting they waited until the last minute.

"Well, I'm doing some last-minute shopping," David Beene said.

Elijah Decker said, "We're Christmas shopping - last-minute Christmas shopping, actually."

Lori Curtis admitted the same, "We kind of waited till the very last minute, but it worked out for me."

Thousands of shoppers flocked to Utica Square on Christmas Eve to pick up their final gifts for the family; or, if you're like Curtis, you picked up a little something for yourself.

"Shopping, seeing Santa, my kids are in line with my husband waiting for Santa and I went to Miss Jackson's. It's so wonderful," she said.

For Beene, waiting until the eleventh hour is just more convenient.

"I'm not doing a lot today, so I had time. I got everything done, so I had a few hours to get out of my shop and come out here," he said.

And Decker is the first to admit he just kind of put it off.

"It's the best time to go shopping, right,” he said with a laugh. “Just procrastination, work, life is busy."

Whatever the reason, the owners of The Dolphin Fine Linens – Kitina Bartovek and Cristina Woods - enjoyed the Christmas Eve business boom.

"Business has been fantastic. We're so blessed to have our clients and customers that we've had forever," they said.

In fact, most of the Utica Square shops and restaurants were open for at least a few hours, to serve the last-minute shoppers right before Christmas, one last time.

Bartovek and Woods said, "Think the weather, just everybody's out walking and getting fresh air and it's just been wonderful. It's such a nice day to be here and be open for everyone."

Nearly all of the stores will be closed Christmas; then, they'll reopen for the weekend or next week to take care of exchanges and returns.