Day after Christmas was another busy shopping day at Aurora mall
AURORA, Ill. (CBS) – The frigid weather did little to keep shoppers away from some of the malls in the Chicago area looking for those post-Christmas deals.
Even the Chicago Premium Outlet in Aurora, which is outdoors, saw waves of shoppers strike early as stores opened for the day. CBS 2's Andrew Ramos joined the crowds on Monday.
We all know Dec. 25, Christmas Day, is for spending time with family and of course giving and receiving gifts.
And evidently, Dec. 26 is reserved for collecting those gift receipts and returning everything you did not want. It was just one of the many trends CBS 2 saw on Monday at the Aurora mall.
The foot traffic was pretty steady at the shopping center even with the temperature dipping into the teens.
While some came to make returns, many of those we came across took advantage of deep discounts. Some shops marked down their merchandise by 50, 60 or even 70% off.
That's despite initial forecast models projecting a drop in holiday shopping this year due to inflation.
Some newly released data showed a jump in both in-person and online sales which comes as a surprise to many.
The common thread CBS 2 saw on Monday was that most of the shoppers came to shop for one person: themselves.
"I got a Michael Kors wallet for like $39," said shopper Indi Stephens. "It was pretty good, I feel like."
Reese Stephens said "I just stocked up on Bath and Bodyworks perfumes because you could never have too much, even if you have a lot."
Retail manager Ayesha Ahmed said she "expected there to be a lot of returns, but a lot of people are just buying stuff for themselves, which is really surprising but it's pretty good."
"We got all this gift card money," said shopper Nadia Andrade. "You have to use it, yes."
Erika Andrade added, "And money. Gift cards, money so we have to spend it on ourselves."
Dec. 26 is considered one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Many of the retailers were pulling out all the stops to get shoppers to spend money.