Last month’s government shutdown hasn’t dented this month’s Christmas shopping. Shoppers locally have been out in force in the last two weekends, during daylight hours anyway. There are not so many shoppers out after dark, but I think people are just trying to be practical, and that is what makes people undertake Christmas shopping in October and November in the first place. Retailers’ promotional discounts may be low-key at this point, but they are big enough to tell shoppers who know they will be busier in December that there is no need to wait.
Locally the weekend shopping has been lifted by favorable weather. That looks likely to continue today and tomorrow, not just here, but across most of the country.
