HOWARD (NBC 26) -- Stores were busy on this Christmas Eve, with shoppers finishing up their last-minute buys before Christmas. In Howard, the Meijer parking lot was packed.
Some people came to grab that last gift in time for Christmas, while others are stocking up on wrapping paper for next year, or food for Christmas Day. No matter what they're here for, there's definitely a little Christmas spirit in the air.
The store director at the Meijer in Howard says the last-minute shopping started early Tuesday. In fact, as early as 6 a.m. he says people were making their way inside. He says with the packers win last night mixed in with Christmas Eve has made for a lot of happy customers and a little crowd couldn't scare shoppers away today.
"We pulled in it was like, ‘Oh there's a lot of people here,’ but we're getting along. It's the holiday spirit," said Derrick Dombrowski form Pulaski.
Two ladies say the shorter amount of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas made a big difference for them shopping this year, but they still got most of it done before Christmas. Of course, they couldn't help but pick up a few more things.
"We actually came for our last-minute stuff just to get chips and some fruit and a little bit of other stuff and then we decided to go looking for extra Christmas gifts that we didn't get,” said Cheryl Johnson from River Falls.
This is the one night out of the year that Meijer closes, so if you're still hoping to get a little shopping done at Meijer, you have until 7 p.m. Christmas Eve.
