Crowds flock to stores for post-Christmas shopping
Mashantucket – Steep holiday discounts and a hodgepodge of gift-returners, late shoppers and families with cabin fever made for a busy Monday afternoon at the Tanger Outlets.
The outlet mall, which opened in May of last year, was in the middle of its second holiday season, and stores across the three floors were eager to move their merchandise in the important week for retailers between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Cars filled the parking garage, strollers filled the halls, and lines popped up across the mall as shoppers picked out new sizes or made quick use of the gift cards they got the day before.
At the Columbia Sportswear Store, store manager Breen Wittenberg said they are typically split 50-50 between returns and new purchases the day after Christmas, typically buying snow boots and coats.
"You never know when winter is coming," Wittenberg said.
At the "As Seen On TV" store, Michelle Woods, visiting family from Suffolk, Va., said she was shopping for "all those people I haven't gotten a Christmas gift yet," mostly acquaintances she'll see when she returns home.
She said it was stressful to try and finish all of her shopping by Christmas, especially with traveling. Though the store was offering up to 70 percent off and a Christmas laser light caught her eye, she and Karen Allyn of Pawcatuck left the store empty-handed to continue their search.
For many out on their vacation, shopping the day after Christmas was a way to avoid some of the hassle, enjoy themselves and find exactly what they wanted.
At the Go! Calendars, Games and Toys store, Mike, Julian and Michelle Fitzgerald of Johnston, R.I., said they had a return to make at the outlets and figured that since it was a nice day, they'd make the trip on their day off.
Mike and Julian Fitzgerald picked up some candy and an action figure. Michelle Fitzgerald picked up some clothes, but said there's only so much you can do the day after Christmas.
"You get heartbroken after you see what you got is 50 percent off," Michelle Fitzgerald said.
With a family spread out geographically, Alex and Patricia Young of White Plains, N.Y., took a vacation after Christmas and, importantly, shop for each other the day after Christmas instead.
"You understand for kids," said Alex Young, as he was trying on a coat at Columbia Sportswear, "but the rush, the anxiety we put on ourselves, it's not really needed."
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