Last-minute shoppers in no frenzy for Christmas deals

VIRGINIA BEACH

Jessica Mitchell and Dana Dixon expected to have no Christmas this year – at least not in the presents-under-the-tree sense.

Money’s tight for the Virginia Beach sisters. Mitchell, 42, waited to shop until she got her paycheck Wednesday from the Caché clothing store at Lynnhaven Mall. Dixon runs her own house-cleaning business and has lost some clients who cut the service as the economy soured.

Then, this week, she received enough in holiday tips to buy a few last-minute gifts. The sisters headed to JCPenney at Lynnhaven Mall and found a brown quilted vest and hooded sweatshirt for Dixon’s boyfriend, spending just $25.

“Today almost didn’t happen,” Dixon, 37, said as she moved through the department store’s checkout line. “Today would not have happened if my client hadn’t given us a big bonus yesterday.”

Other shoppers picking up last-minute gifts Wednesday at JCPenney said they, too, had scaled back their Christmas spending.

Crystal McCallister and her boyfriend agreed to forgo gifts for each other and concentrate on the baby they’re expecting in 2009. As in past years, she made many gifts – Christmas trees built out of baby-food jars with lights inside them – and reduced the number of items she typically buys.

“I have way cut back,” said McCallister, 29, as she looked through the JCPenney boys’ department for a T-shirt for a 13-year-old. “Everybody knows that it’s a rough year, and we’re not going all-out. And they all are feeling the same way.”

That might explain the lack of frenzy at JCPenney on the day before Christmas. Shoppers strolled the aisles without looking frazzled. Calmness prevailed.

Jim Glenn bought all of his wife’s presents within about 45 minutes Wednesday morning and prided himself on starting his shopping before 4 p.m. He leaned over a case of women’s watches and selected an Armitron style with brown gemstones along the brown band. It cost $45 with a 25 percent discount.

“Can’t beat that with a stick,” said Glenn, 60, who is retired and lives in Virginia Beach.

Discounts have helped stimulate sales during this challenging retail season, said Melissa Cook, manager of JCPenney at Lynnhaven Mall. Foot traffic in the store has remained steady from past years, she said, but customers’ spending habits haven’t.

“What we’re seeing is that they’re just not buying as much,” Cook said.

A purple dress shirt and tie caught the attention of Alexandria Bond and her 9-year-old brother, Max Bond, as they shopped with their uncle for a gift for their father, among others on their Christmas list.

The siblings understand the meaning of tough times this year. They might have to wait for some of their gifts because their mother won’t receive her next paycheck until after Christmas.

“There’s not going to be as many presents under the Christmas tree this year because of the economy,” Alexandria, 16, said her mother told them.

For past Christmases, sisters Dixon and Mitchell flew to Ohio to visit family and splurged on their nephew in their usual “extravagant” fashion. This year turned out quite different. It took that last-minute shift in their finances to allow them to plan a pot-roast Christmas dinner and wrap a few packages.

In this economic climate, the ability to spend a bit for the holidays is a blessing, Mitchell said. Her sister added, “I feel real fortunate.”

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com