THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270054
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A lot of folks who vowed ``never again'' as they navigated the throngs of holiday shoppers the day before Christmas were nonetheless at it again the day after.
``You have to shop the sales. You'd be crazy not to,'' said Dorothy D. Parker of Chesapeake as she poked through a basket of Christmas dolls at the Lillian Vernon store at Greenbrier Mall on Monday. Everything was marked half price.
``I was out Saturday and it was just as crowded,'' said Parker, 57. ``I never want to be shopping again the day before Christmas.'' But it wasn't just the crowds, she said. ``There's just too much else to do'' the day before the big holiday, such as cooking and cleaning.
The day after is another matter.
Parker said her daughter, whom she described as ``the consummate shopper,'' told her she should shop the day after Christmas to get a head start - and to get great deals on merchandise that retailers would rather sell than store for a year.
``But all I've bought so far is (Christmas) cards and decorations,'' Parker said. ``I haven't really found anything to give as a gift.''
She should have consulted with Rebecca Brady, also of Chesapeake.
``I've been in here four hours and I've probably done 80 percent of the shopping for my immediate family,'' said Brady, who added that it was unladylike to give her age. ``How rude to even ask,'' she scolded with a grandmotherly smile.
She'd even picked up several birthday presents for later in the year for some of her kin.
``It's the perfect time to shop, the week after Christmas,'' she said. ``Everything is on sale, you can still get Christmas wrapping done at a lot of stores and, plus, you know what everyone got this year.''
For instance, she said a grandson got his first CD player this Christmas. ``He'll have all those (discs) that he'll have collected by next year. So I've already bought him a rack to hold them.''
She won't buy him any music, however. ``I know better,'' she said. ``I think we have different tastes.''
Rickey Breeden, 17, of Virginia Beach knows what she means. He was standing in line - a long line - at the Blockbuster store waiting to exchange some gifts.
``My aunt gave two CDs that they wouldn't play at a funeral,'' he said. ``I just hope they'll exchange them. I don't have a receipt.''
While most people were rushing from store to store, a few just watched from benches in the mall concourse. Every seat was taken by a man - husbands and boyfriends dragged along for the day.
``The women need us as pack mules,'' said John Fowler as he sat with his neighbor. ``They shop and drop it off to us and we take turns carrying it to the car.''
One of them always stayed behind to hold the bench, he said. They needed it to rest, Fowler said, because ``we had to park halfway to Elizabeth City.''
Their wives? ``Off that way, somewhere, spending our money,'' he said with a wave of his hand toward Proffitt's. ``She tells me about all these savings for shopping now. But it seems to me that a bill is a bill is a bill.''
So why does he stand still for it? ``Well,'' he said, ``it makes her happy.''
Most of those in the mall Monday seemed to be making new purchases rather than exchanging unwanted or ill-fitting gifts.
Still, Marci Barkley of Chesapeake and her mother, Dorris, were carrying little, despite a sea of signs promoting sales of 20 percent to 50 percent off and ``everything must go.''
``We've found some bargains,'' Marci Barkley said, ``but nothing tremendous.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake was crowded Monday with shoppers
taking advantage of after-Christmas bargains. ``You have to shop
the sales. You'd be crazy not to,'' said one shopper, Dorothy D.
Parker of Chesapeake.
Shonda Taylor, 12, and a friend, Candance Smith, 16, wait for a ride
outside Janaf shopping center in Norfolk Monday. They'd spent the
day at three malls, taking advantage of sales.
by CNB