Late Holiday Shoppers Flock to West Acres Mall
West Acres Mall says this is the busiest time of year for them with late Holiday shoppers all over the area.
It may be freezing outside, but that’s not stopping anybody.
It seems like it would be easier to just shop early rather than come out so close to the holiday, but each year, West Acres Mall sees between 30,000 to 40,000 guests each day in the week leading up to Christmas.
To give you some perspective, that’s about a third of Fargo’s population.
So why do so many people wait?
“Well, I just got done with school, I’m at NDSU right now so now was the time that my mom could come up and join me and we could just go get anything for family for friends and just kind of try and knock out everything in one day,” said shopper Taylor Olson.
“I usually don’t, but with school and stuff like that, and only being in high school, I kind of waited a while,” said shopper Addie Rossow.
“I’m a student, so I just finished finals so at that point I’m like, okay now I get to focus on Christmas, which just means you encounter the mall like this which is just awful,” said shopper Erica Nitschke.
You can’t blame it all on school though…right?
“No this is pretty much in character I guess it is like what we have a week now,” said Olson.
There are downsides to waiting. Some people say lines are long and all the bodies can make you feel claustrophobic.
“It was a little crazier than we thought it was going to be. Parking was hard,” said Ellen Rossow.
It’s not all negative though.
“If we were in like Minneapolis or something it would probably be really rude, but everyone is really friendly and if they bump into you they say they’re sorry,” adds Ellen.
If you do have some last minute things to grab, this former mall employee has some advice.
“I definitely say come early in the morning and come on a day that’s not so cold,” says Olson who used to work at one of the department stores.
I can’t argue with avoiding the cold.
If you’re having trouble thinking of last minute holiday gifts, West Acres Mall has a holiday gift guide to help you find the perfect present.
