Santa has had less than 24 hours in his bed after his exhausting round-the-world schedule but already San Francisco shoppers are preparing for next Christmas!
Thousands of shoppers had descended on the centre of the city by mid-morning and one of the most popular buys, judging from the queues, was Christmas decorations.
Macy's had performed a considerable feat by having taken down most of their decorated trees from their Holiday Lane and laid out the ornaments in open boxes - ready for eager shoppers. Not that all of their sales items were popular.
Kelly, a young woman of refined taste when it comes to tree decorations, was shopping because of the 50 per cent reductions. But she was disappointed at the quality of what was on offer. She was looking for higher priced items that would retail normally in 'the high 20s' of dollars, but today she couldn't find them.
'I think stores are not buying more expensive ones,' she said, also saying, 'We're noticing every year they seem to get smaller and smaller.' She held up a three-inch gold coloured ornament by way of illustration.
She used to purchase designer ornaments by Polonaise and Christopher Radko but these appear to have disappeared from Macy's. Instead, in her basket that she displayed for the pic, were trinkets worth originally about $17 dollars.
I asked if she had shopped before Christmas or if she had saved her spending for the sales, and she said that she had shopped beforehand as well.
In the queue in the Holiday Lane was Liana holding several overstuffed bags of already purchased goods - 'they're for my mum' - she said, just as mum Lily appeared.
Like Kelly, Lily had spent in the stores before Christmas but was back with a post-Christmas glow that would light any tree. 'The sales have been pretty good. It's tempting!' she said. 'But the time to get here is early because the sizes are limited.'
Lily, however, had triumphed with 40 per cent reductions on a cashmere and Elie Tahari sweaters, and a pair of Ralph Lauren pants - trousers - for $50 that would sell at full price for $300.
'We've also shopped before Christmas because the stores had 40 per cent off,' she said, pointing out, though, that in these credit crunch days some of the best bargains had sold then.
'But we're tired and we're ready to go home!' she concluded, heading with a patient Liana in tow to the cash registers.
Around the clothing departments, there were many signs advertising reductions from 40 to 60 per cent.
Not everyone in the store was there for bargains, however. Angela and George were having fun climbing into a replica Santa's sleigh for a pic.
'We're on holiday, this is our first few minutes in Macy's,' said Angela.
The couple are from Norwich, England, and spent Christmas in the city as part of a ten-day holiday here. This is the first time they have visited San Francisco.
pics show: Christmas decorations are very popular; queues in Holiday Lane; Kelly's ornaments; George and Angela take a sleigh ride.
For more reports see next blog
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