Last Minute Shopping Helpers

Many places have the "country" style restaurants such as Cracker Barrel offer a wide variety of gifts in their "store" that is in the front of the restaurant.  Take advantage of this because while the restaurant may be crowded the store part usually is not and some even offer FREE gift-wrap.

Another idea is to shop stores off the beaten path, especially ones who have Christmas "carts" in the mall just for the holiday season.  Also, check out those little boutiques you see all over town - many have great deals and you can usually park right in front of the store and go in.  Less crowds and easy parking.

Personally, I have experienced this.  Last year while shopping for something at the mall I ran across a cart from a store called the Alpine Christmas Store that was selling personalized ornaments.  Well I did not have the 20 minutes to wait to get my ornament so I left.  Later that day I went to their store located in another section of town.  I was able to park right in front of the store and while there were people in the store, it was not crowded.  I went to the ornament section to locate the ornament I had seen at the mall.  They did not have it!  It was a computer ornament, my husband is into computers, and this is the one I wanted for him!  So, I asked at the desk about the ornament I saw at the mall.  They looked but did not have any more at the store but they had some at the mall.  They did not tell me to go back there, instead they sent someone to the mall to pick it up and bring it back for me.  What customer service!  I was glad I stopped by the "main" store where the hassle factor was so much less than the mall.

So when you are out driving the next time, take time to see what stores you might have been missing by focusing on a mall or value store, you might be surprised at some of the great deals you can find in addition to less crowds and better parking!