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While the clock was ticking for last-minute shoppers in the final hours before Christmas, procrastinating paid off for those who were able to scoop up some of the best deals of the year.
“It’s kind of crazy we’re impulse-buying. I’ll buy one (thing) and then two for me ’cause the sales are so good,” said Kaneohe resident Romina Layug, who was shopping Monday at the Waikele Premium Outlets.
Her friend Stephanie Huddy added that the sales were “amazing, now more so than ever.”
“We come to Waikele frequently, so we know when things are a deal.”
The National Retail Federation estimates that at least 7 percent of shoppers surveyed planned to buy gifts on Christmas Eve.
Retailers obliged.
Malls across the state were advertising steep discounts Monday in hopes of squeezing more out of consumers to boost holiday sales.
Meredith Pantoca, an assistant manager at the Guess store in Waikele, said Monday started off slow, but she was hoping for a final boost in sales before closing at 6 p.m. The holiday season is slightly down from a year ago, she said.
”I feel like people are shopping online more. I’ve had friends that are shopping online, aunties that are shopping online, and they’re looking for deals — things less than $10, lower price points,” she said.
As of Dec. 12, procrastinating shoppers planned to make more than 50 percent of their purchases online.
Misha Maletta was on a mission while heading to two of her favorite Waikele outlets, Tory Burch and Kate Spade, for last-minute presents.
“I procrastinate so many different things. I actually do a lot of shopping online, so a lot of it has already come through like Amazon. But certain friends, you want to splurge a little bit more on them,” said the Makiki resident, who estimated she did 80 percent of her holiday purchasing online.
At Pearlridge Center, Kuulei Vedder, owner of
local retailer Homegrown, said foot traffic was up
500 percent over last year, particularly in the last week before Christmas, with a double-digit increase in sales.
“It was crazy. It’s like everyone was waiting for the last minute to come and shop. Saturday and Sunday was our busiest weekend of the entire year,” she said, adding that the store was bustling since opening time Monday. “They’re spending more per transaction. But the bigger significance is the amount of people that are coming in. For those who don’t come shopping at the mall regularly, we will see them in November and December. I’d say it’s 10 times our
normal traffic.”
Roxanne Rivera, 38, of Waianae hurried to buy stocking stuffers on the day before Christmas, though she estimated 90 percent of her shopping was done online.
“We have larger-sized men in our family, so we have to go to the mainland to get things or go online. I was scrambling a little bit because Hawaii’s so limited,” she said, adding that she spent about $3,000 this year compared with $5,000 last holiday season. “As we’re shopping here we’re checking online. I’d order at Target and pick up at the counter. While my boyfriend is driving, I’m on the Gamestop app purchasing the video games for his son. So he’s fighting the traffic, and I just run and pick it up and run back out.”
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