Thousands of area residents are crowding into local stores to get last-minute gifts on the final Saturday before Christmas.

“We did have a few missing items on our list for our kids, and so we snuck out while everyone was asleep this morning,” said Virginia Newhouse, who was busy shopping at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda.

“I’m looking for Christmas Eve pajamas, a couple of items from lululemon for our daughters and something for my dad.”

Nine-year-old Kelly said she was on the hunt for “makeup, shoes and football stuff.”

The National Retail Federation forecasts 157.2 million people will grab last-minute items either online or in stores on Saturday ahead of the big holiday. That represents about 46% of the population.

While many shoppers prefer the convenience of shopping online, Brian Newhouse told WTOP he prefers shopping in person.

“It’s kind of fun,” he said. “You’re around other people and you see them having a good time. You hear all the music and you see people with Santa. It reminds you of when your kids were little.”

Out of that 157.2 million doing their last minute shopping, 69.5 million (44%) people plan to shop both in-store and online, up from 58.3 million (41%) in 2023, according to NRF.

About 49.4 million (31%) are expected to shop exclusively in-store, down from 52.8 million (37%) last year. Some 38.2 million customers (24%) plan to shop online only, which is up from 30.8 million (22%) in 2023.

As of two weeks ago, shoppers had bought, on average, half of the items on their shopping list, while only 10% of shoppers said they were completely done.

Those with at least half their shopping left to finish said they were waiting because they were still trying to figure out what to buy (37%), had other financial priorities before December (27%), or were waiting for family members and friends to let them know what gifts they wanted (24%), according to the NRF analysis.

The NRF estimates Americans will drop up to $989 Billion on presents this holiday season.

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