Shoppers grab last-minute holiday gifts from Tampa businesses

TAMPA, Fla. - Holiday shoppers headed to Hyde Park in Tampa on Saturday for last-minute gifts.

The National Retail Foundation expects nearly 142 million consumers to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas, up significantly from the last time "Super Saturday" fell on Dec. 23, when 126 million shopped in 2017.

"I like to try to find unusual gifts. Something that somebody would not expect to get," said Diane Clark, who was shopping at "Fig and Julep" in Hyde Park.

She meandered through one-of-a-kind vinegars hoping to hit a homer for the holiday.

Now that inflation has slowed significantly, from a high of 9% in June of last year to 3% this November, shoppers say they were willing to hit locally owned stores and brand-name ones like Nike and Lululemon.

"You do what you got to do and then you only live once," said Christina Diaz of Tampa. "You pay for it, and you forget about it and you just live it one day at a time and figure it out."

READ: These are the most popular last-minute Christmas purchases, according to Instacart

That's the name of the game with only two days to go. What's out there? Who wants what? Where can I get it?

"It's so important that my 22-year-old son has me out shopping for his girlfriend," said Kathy Rodgers of Tampa.

Fig and Julep says one-fifth of everything they sell this year is during the holiday season. That's why they say shopping local is so important. It keeps them afloat.

"I think most people know at this point that local dollars stay local," said owner Jeffrey Schrader. "They keep us in business for sure. Shopping online takes a lot of things away from us."

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Schrader has a few markdowns to get last minute browsers to buy.

Retail sales were up last month by six-tenths of a percent, if you exclude cars and gas.

Heidi Hedding picked up a few things for her daughters this eve of Christmas Eve.

But as we all know the real gifts are free.

"Christmas is all about family and just the feeling, the music, the presence, the giving, all of that all together," said Hedding. "I love it."

The NRF forecasts that holiday spending is expected to reach record levels during November and December and will grow between 3% and 4% over 2022.