Cool Gifts You Can Get at Absolute Last Minute
If you still find yourself without gifts for some folks on your list tomorrow, fear not - there are places you can score neat gifts, even on Christmas, "Early Show" Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen points out.
"There are going to be 19 million consumers shopping on Christmas Day," Scott Krugman of the National Retail Federation told Koeppen. "This clearly means we're a nation of procrastinators." He adds that that number is up 21 percent over last year.
Places like Blockbuster, Starbucks, Walgreens and CVS will have locations open on Christmas, Koeppen notes, and they carry plenty of last-minute gifts that can make just about anyone happy.
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At a CVS, she found perfume, makeup, and toys. Also, chocolates, lots of chocolates. Even TVs with built-in DVD players.
And don't forget gift wrap and gift bags!
Also open on Christmas -- 6,000 7-Elevens. What can you find there suitable for giving?
"Always a crowd pleaser," Koeppen says, "are -- lottery tickets. Put some $5 scratch-offs in the stocking! Also $10 cell phones, and stuffed animals. And, for the coffee lover in your life, for less than $20, a travel mug with a gift card and three different types of coffee."
Believe it or not -- Christmas is 7-Eleven's biggest sales day of the year!
You can even find great gifts at the gas station. Some 1,400 Hess Express locations are open on Christmas Day and they'll serve more than a million customers.
"You think Hess, you think gasoline," Koeppen says, "but there are plenty of last-minute gifts for your kids in here. Video games, pillow pets, and the always-popular Hess trucks."
In fact, they're so popular, they account for 10 percent of all toy truck sales every year.
Another great idea -- consider a gift card. After all, gift cards are the most-requested present this holiday season.
And you don't even have to leave your house to get a gift. Plenty of e-tailers are enabling you to buy and send gift cards via e-mail on Christmas Day.