PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Still have gifts left to buy? You're not alone. On the last shopping weekend before Christmas, people were out at the King of Prussia Mall for last-minute items — just not as many people as you'd think.
"We got to get wrapping paper, we got to get like little boxes, stuff like that," said Jaylen Wade of West Philadelphia, who shared he finished the bulk of his shopping. But when he arrived at the mall for a few final things, he was surprised to find it wasn't as packed as he expected it would be.
"I guess a lot of people are doing more online shopping because of COVID," he said. "You kind of forget how it was before COVID."
Wade was with Yakiera Young, who told KYW Newsradio shopping didn't feel like previous years to her.
"It's open space ... There's just people walking. There's an empty hall. You know, everybody's just walking happily, freely with their bags and there’s no issues," she said.
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"Where are all the people bum-rushing to get the stuff that I want? And it's just like, 'Oh, OK. This is cool.' I mean, I love it but it's definitely not what I expected."
Before now, Young added, it had been a while since she last shopped at a regular in-person mall.
"I'm trying to get my way back into it. You know, we can't be stuck in the house forever and online shopping can take so long," she said, admitting she was out of practice when it came to in-person shopping.
Another shopper, Craig from South Jersey, had just finished buying presents for his family when he spoke to KYW Newsradio. He said he hoped his wife and daughter would be happy with what he got them, or else, he joked, "I'm taking it back."
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Others, like Mia Heller of Abington, were on a different kind of mission at the mall.
"It’s different when there’s three kids with you. It’s kind of like survival mode. We went to see Santa and you come only for the necessities," she said.
And what do these shoppers want for Christmas? Craig said while it doesn't matter what he gets, he would love a new car - though he knows he'd have to get that himself.
As for Wade, he said while he'd be cool with anything, "I'm not gonna lie, I need the [Playstation 5]."