While the excitement of opening Christmas gifts might be over, for some, it is time to head out the door to do some refunds and continue the holiday spending.
“People love to shop the day after Christmas," said Mckenzie Murray, owner of Blue Harvest Apparel.
Downtown San Luis Obispo was filled with holiday shoppers once again spending their Christmas cash.
“I got a lot of Christmas money and going shopping is like a Christmas tradition I would say," said Marissa Nugent. "My family usually goes shopping around the holidays and yeah, just coming out and spending the money I got for Christmas."
Along with spending money from Christmas, come plenty of post-Christmas sales luring in the crowds.
“Yeah, just shopping around seeing what deals we can grab after the holidays," said Maricruz Sanchez.
The National Retail Federation predicts that 65 percent of holiday shoppers will shop the week after Christmas with 23% planning to use gift cards.
“We have gift cards that have been a big hit and it feels like we’re just busier than ever," explained Ruth Moynihan, manager of Calico Trading Company. "It’s the day after Christmas, and I see like 20 people in the store right now, so it’s pretty great."
“You know we’re a new store, but they’re like this was on the Christmas list a Blue Harvest Apparel gift card, so we’re happy to see that," said Murray.
For small business owners like Mckenzie, the holiday rush has made today one of the busiest days.
“We’ve definitely had a busy day today and we expect it to continue throughout the week," said Murray.
Experts say stores will continue to be busy through the month of January as the majority of people will begin to return holiday gifts and continue to spend their holiday cash.
