Shoppers storm Southland stores on Super Saturday

With just over a week until Christmas, thousands of shoppers hit stores throughout the Southland in an effort to secure some last minute gifts.

Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, has traditionally been one of the busiest days for stores in years past, and 2022 seemed to be no different. 

In fact, experts say that the day was even busier than normal due to the high amount of people doing both in person and at home shopping, placing some additional stress on stores and suppliers. In all, they estimated that over 150 million people would be shopping Saturday, 10 million than the year prior. 

The National Retail Federation said that online shopping was expected to spike by 10-to-12 percent this year. 

Thousands of people hit the shops at shopping centers and malls all over Southern California, including the Westfield Culver City shopping mall. 

Even at 9 p.m., the parking lot of the mall was packed to the brim with people trying to get their shopping done while they still can. 

"It took us like 20 minutes to find somewhere to park," said Dillon Torske, one of the many people shopping Saturday. 

Undeterred by the incredible amount of people hitting the stores, some shoppers did say that the inflation rate this year has caused them to feel the strain on their wallet. 

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reports that 57% of Americans claim that it's harder to afford gifts this year, compared to 40% that said the same in 2021. 

For many though, giving up on gifts is simply non-negotiable. 

On top of the stress created by in person consumers, at home shoppers place pressure on shipping providers and post offices. L.A.'s postal processing center, the largest in the nation, has been handling and sorting a million packages and 800,000 letters daily.