Shoppers rush to finish their Christmas shopping

Local malls were crowded with holiday shoppers Sunday.

Ein Whatley, Nicole Sutherly and Nicole Whatley do some last-minute Christmas shopping in the toy department at a local Target. Shoppers are taking advantage of extended store hours to finish their holiday shopping.

Randy Hilt/Contributed photo Ein Whatley, Nicole Sutherly and Nicole Whatley do some last-minute Christmas shopping in the toy department at a local Target. Shoppers are taking advantage of extended store hours to finish their holiday shopping.

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By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer 11:49 PM Sunday, December 18, 2011

Dayton area shopping centers were busy Sunday, with full parking lots and lines at the registers as people attempted to wrap up their holiday shopping on the last full weekend before Christmas.

“There are people everywhere doing their last-minute shopping,” said Marlene Crane of Dayton, who was carrying several bags full of gifts at the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek.

“The lines are long but they are moving fairly well,” Crane said.

Jimeca Coleman of Dayton was pushing a shopping cart filled with bags from various stores at the Dayton Mall as she tried to complete all of her Christmas shopping in just one day.

“We saw (the cart) set to the side, so we filled it up,” she said. “The bags were getting heavy.”

Traffic at the Dayton Mall was fine, said Dax Kingsland of Lebanon, who was shopping with his wife Stacy. “It looked a little packed, but we got lucky and found a parking spot,” he said.

Shoppers in Springfield were taking advantage of extended store hours this weekend to finish up their holiday shopping.

“The guest traffic has been pretty much non-stop even up to the last minute that we are open,” said Nicole Ratcliffe, an executive team leader at Target on Bechtle Avenue.

With just six days until Christmas, the National Retail Federation has revised its holiday forecast upward, expecting holiday sales to rise 3.8 percent this year to a record $469.1 billion.

“After strong sales reports in October and November, along with a successful Black Friday weekend, retailers are cautiously optimistic that this season will turn out better than initially expected, bringing added stability to our recovering economy at a time when America needs it most,” said NRF president and chief executive Matthew Shay.

The sluggish local economy was impacting holiday shopping for Brenda Newman of Dayton. Newman, who said her husband is unemployed, was taking advantage of coupons and “big sales” at The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek.

“As bad as the economy is and as bad as everything looks outside, at least we can have a merry Christmas,” Newman said.

Staff writer Megan Gildow contributed to this story.

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