Last Minute Shopping

By: Associated Press

Updated: Tue 11:59 AM, Dec 24, 2002

Undeterred by the six-days shorter shopping season, many consumers appear to be waiting until the last minute despite tempting sales that started in November. And retailers are ready for them.

Some stores, like McRae's and J.C. Penney, opened at 7 a.m. Christmas Eve.

The biggest single shopping day of the holiday season was Saturday, when last-minute shoppers spent $7.2 billion, up four percent from the same day last year.

A survey of 800 consumers by the American Express Retail Index found that 22 percent didn't expect to finish their holiday shopping until Christmas Eve.

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