WILKES-BARRE -- As the clock ticked down to the Christmas Eve shopping deadline, the aisles were filled with shoppers at the Target near Wilkes-Barre.
The cash registers were quickly checking out all those customers.
The manager said it was quite a rush the past few days.
"The last-minute shopping has been absolutely out of control this year. I've been at target for about six years and this is probably the heaviest last-minute shopping I've seen through my six years at target," said Nicholas Gonzalez, Target's General Manager.
Gonzalez thinks online shopping is having more of an impact on last-minute in-store shopping, once those shipping deadlines passed, this was the place to go.
"People need those last-minute gifts that maybe didn't come through online or just forgot about grandma or the kids or whatever they needed," said Gonzalez.
We found many reasons for the Christmas eve stop at the store.
"I had one more gift and diapers. That's it," said Christine Sabatini, of Hazleton.
"We needed a few odds and ends, my son's moving into an apartment. So we want to get him some Christmas shopping, some odds and ends for the place," said Cheryl Hilstolsky, of Orange.
Hilstolsky had a cart full, but said she's not so fond of this last-minute stuff.
Of course guys are the stereotypical procrastinations. And we found plenty here today.
"I wanted to do something nice for my wife and I know she likes James Bond so I wanted to find a collection," said Tony Jardine, of Mountain Top.
Bob Womar loves buying gifts for his grand kids.
"The rest of the time the rest of the year you can get your stuff. The kids, just to see them smile and open presents, they have a good time," said Womar, of Hunlock Creek.
Even I had to pick up a little last-minute item so this turned out to be a good assignment for me. But just about everyone we talked with said they just can't wait to get the hustle and bustle done and get home to be with family.
"Just getting home with the kids and spending time with the wife and we're going to go to church before Christmas so it will be good," said Jardine.
"We are going to enjoy our family this year. Absolutely," said Sabatini.