Jacksonville shoppers get gifts at the last minute
Dec 24, 2012 (Menafn - The Florida Times-Union - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --She didn't want jewelry this year.
And so, Rodney Austin of Jacksonville came to J.C. Penney in The Avenues mall on Sunday, looking confused yet determined. It was just after 10 a.m., and Austin was in unknown territory -- the women's department -- surrounded by pinks and lavenders and floral print and stripes.
For the past eight years, Austin bought his wife jewelry for Christmas. She wasn't going for it this time. And to make matters worse, she didn't tell her husband what she wanted.
That meant Austin had to join hundreds of scrambling shoppers at the malls and shopping centers making their last-minute purchases. Many department stores in St. Johns Town Center and The Avenues stayed open late Saturday and Sunday to accommodate the region's procrastinators.
Austin was one of them.
"If I'd known what I was gonna get her, or had she told me, believe me, I would have done it already," Austin said.
Slideshow: See more photos of last-minute shopping
But there he was, nine feet away from the lacy lingerie. A J.C. Penney associate saw the look on Austin's face and came over to help.
The associate, Angela, showed Austin a rack of soft, pink robes.
"Yeah, but she doesn't like pink," Austin said.
"She doesn't like pink?"
"Doesn't like pink."
Angela then grabbed the same robe, only in light blue.
Then Austin and Angela stepped in front of a rack of fuzzy slippers. She pulled a blue pair off the rack, flipped them over and showed them to Austin.
"A lot of people buy these because they have these thick soles, you know, in case she has to walk a dog," she said.
"She has to walk two dogs," Austin smirked.
He grabbed the slippers from Angela and pressed them against the robe. They matched.
"Well, good, we'll get these two items," he said.
Many shoppers had done some shopping already but spent Sunday getting gifts for the last one or two people on the list.
Most of the people shopping this close to Christmas gave one of two reasons for their tardiness: Either they have been working and haven't had the time, or they've been plain lazy.
"When you don't know what to get someone, you wait until you see something on TV or whatever," Austin said.
Austin was one of dozens of shoppers Sunday morning who found last-minute gifts. Althea Ogle of Jacksonville found some button-up shirts for her 4-year-old nephew and some building blocks for her 2-year-old granddaughter. And after circling the jewelry counter for 10 minutes, John Kirkendoll of Jacksonville bought his wife a pair of gold earrings.
But not everybody found what they wanted.
Jacksonville resident James Stephens strolled through J.C. Penney, but he didn't find anything he wanted to give his mother or wife. He visited the department store with a pajama set and a robe in mind for his mom, but the women's section didn't have the right sizes. When asked why it has taken him this long to get gifts, Stephens had a simple reply.
"I work full time, and I go to school," he said. "But to be perfectly honest, I'm just a horrific procrastinator."
khristopher.brooks@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4104
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