Shoppers Scrambling During Shortened Holiday Season
BOSTON (CBS) - No sweat for Santa, but this shortened holiday season has the rest of us scrambling!
Because Thanksgiving fell on the latest possible date it could be, this year is the shortest time frame between Black Friday and Christmas since 2013. There are six fewer days than last year.
With mail piles mounting for the North Pole, the postal service is in overdrive. They expect their busiest mail day to be Monday, December 16th. At the mall, they're adding hours to accommodate crowds who prefer stores over online shopping.
"(Shoppers) want to make sure they're making the right purchase. They want to be able to see it, feel it, touch it," said Adrienne Hood, who manages the Shops at Chestnut Hill.
There just aren't enough weekends to fit all the traditions in, leading some to outsource.
'Christmas Tree for Me' has already delivered 400 trees to Boston-area homes. Customers can order online, or if they're lucky, they might find a pop-up in their building lobby!
"They walk in the building, pick out a tree. One of our guys will put a fresh cut on the tree, carry it up to their unit. Install it," Jeff Feccia explained. The business even offers tree stands, lights, decorations, and removal!
"It's a nice evening because we can go upstairs and decorate the tree and it wasn't a whole production. We can do it in the middle of the week which is great when you have hectic schedules," one customer said.
The good news? Even though the days are winding down 'til Christmas - there's still time to make the nice list.
"We need more light in the world today. Smiling is very contagious. If you smile, you make somebody else smile and it goes forward. If everyone smiles, it makes the world brighter," Santa Claus said.