Last-minute Twin Cities shoppers brave arctic weather ahead of Christmas weekend

Home from college in Ireland, Bea Buckley hit Ridgedale Center on Friday morning to finish shopping for her family.

"It's so much cheaper here so I waited to shop until I was back," she said.

Among her best finds, Buckley bought a jacket for her mother for $130 that was reduced from $400. "I almost want to keep it for myself," she said.

Despite arctic-like conditions and high winds, Minnesotans hit stores and malls Friday for the last full-day of shopping before Christmas.

At Flirt, a lingerie boutique in Edina, owner Jessica Gerard expected frantic husbands to brave the weather in search of perfect gifts for their wives. "They definitely get a little desperate," she said.

Gerard expects to be wrapping last-minute presents during the shop's shortened hours on Christmas Eve.

"You can't stop Christmas," Gerard said. "No matter how bad the weather is, Christmas will still come and people will still shop for it."

At Good Things on St. Paul's Grand Avenue, Jeanette Zaczkowski's husband dropped her off to pick up stocking stuffers.

"My husband says the Christmas shopping isn't over until the presents are opened," she said. "I'm always buying."

Marquel Wallace went to Ridgedale with his brother Friday to finish Christmas shopping for his kids while his wife was at work. He wasn't worried about inflation, just finding what was on his children's lists. "Everybody's short-staffed, so the lines are a little longer," he said.

Retailers across the Twin Cities say they are seeing more price-conscious consumers. Good Things manager Teresa Klettenberg said more customers were paying cash or spreading out payments over time.

"Customers are way more mindful of what they're purchasing and when," Klettenberg said. She expects Good Things sales to be on track with last year's holiday season.

"I was predicting a down holiday season but we're on par with last holiday season, which is shocking," said Amy Saldanha, owner of the Kiddywampus toy stores in Chanhassen and Hopkins.

She added, "I feel like we're getting new customers who want to be out shopping in person."

Customers hurried in this week when they learned Amazon deliveries would be too late for Christmas and to get their shopping done before children were home all day because of school closings.

For store owners, the weather posed a choice: Close early to give employees more time to navigate the roads or stay open to serve last-minute shoppers. "It's a tricky one," Saldanha said. "I don't want to disappoint customers."

Fewer shoppers ventured out to the Mall of America after the midweek snowfall than the traditional run-up to Christmas. But last weekend was one of the busiest of the year and the mall's annual traffic is nearing 2019 levels despite fewer international visitors, said Jill Renslow, executive vice president of business development and marketing.

She said she's already looking forward to next week, when she expects families to be scouring after-Christmas sales and hitting Nickelodeon Universe.