Today Kenny and I went to the mall to do a little Chritmas shopping and I have to tell you, it was busy (looking).
It took forever to find a parking space . . . all of the spots were filled, even out to the edge of nowhere. 
Inside, there were so many people moving around, shoulder to shoulder, and they reminded me of busy ants. 
At first, I thought, wow, there must not be as many economic problems as there have been reported . . . but look around. Where are the shopping bags?
And I noticed almost all the stores have markdowns that equal the normal "after" holiday sales. Then on the way home, I heard on the news that Abercrombie is doing terrible this season because management decided not to follow the lead with the markdowns.
I really am praying that our economy gets better, but maybe it's time we appreciated our families and the time we spend together and the reasons we celebrate the holidays more than the pressure of commercialism.
I myself have been shopping for months in discount stores and clearance shops online and elsewhere to avoid the crunch, so today, I was glad to get quickly from the mahem and outdoors.
I snagged some gum . . . 
. . . and a 20 questions game for my nephew . . .
. . . and I was out of there!
Snagged these shots on the way out . . . always time to look for the beauty in the simple things. 
So, how is your shopping coming along?
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Comments: 24
I noticed at Walmart last night, all the outdoor Christmas decor (except strands of regular lights) are on clearance already- and it's only the first week of December!
I think I may pick a few things up for decorating. When we relocated in 2007, we went from a house rental to an apartment, and I freecycled all my wonderful outdoor decorations. Now, all the items i have are 2nd hand from Goodwill, except a Mickey inflatable I got at Home Depot last week for $25 with a Gather gift card.
no lines to wait in.
Our local news, though, has interviewed people - on Black Friday, on Cyber Monday (or was that Cyber Tuesday?) and most have said they're spending more this year. And anytime I've driven near stores, the parking lots do seem full.
As a Kodak Marketing Rep, I'm in the stores way too much this quarter. People are buying, but being more judicious in their choices. Many stores, in preparation of the economic environment, are packaging some great sales, some like Wal-Mart are offering fabulous sales online to ship to the store nearest you for pick up.
Third quarter was down, but so far 4th quarter is doing ok, some high end stores are having some difficulty with sales. When hard times hit, the less expensive stores are offering better sales and good products. But realistically, even if you do make good money, why buy something that cost twice as much in a high end store, when you can get the same product at stores like Wal-Mart, Target or stores like that? Just good sense.
I noticed there were no shopping bags either the last time I went to the mall. Alot of people, but not much buying.