Shoppers pick up the pace as holiday nears
Before 5 p.m. Saturday, the sun set on the shortest day of the year.
As daylight ran down, so, too, did the window for shoppers scurrying to buy their last-minute Christmas gifts.
In Cranberry Township, plenty of shoppers were seeking out the best deal — or an emergency gift idea — this weekend as Adrianna Wright, Barnes & Noble's community business development manager, called it a “pretty hopping” scene.
The children's section was home to some of the biggest chaos, as Gene Natali Jr., an author from McCandless Township, discussed his new children's book, “The List,” at a book signing.
With his table directly in the center of the section, kids ran through nearby aisles, arms full of books. In the midst of the chaos, Natali, who mostly writes personal finance books, said the time of the year is “magical.”
He added the frantic last-minute shopping, in his view, goes against the point of the Christmas season.
“Take a breath and say 'I love you' to someone you maybe haven't said it to for a while,” he said.
Dan Mountain, who was out with his four children, said he hadn't planned on going Christmas shopping Saturday, but instead came to use some gift cards. He, too, discovered something magical about the season's retail.“The kids are telling me they want every book here,” Mountain said.The adults' section of the bookstore was less chaotic, or perhaps hid it better, since the shelves are taller. But nestled in a corner near the front of the store, was a shining example of wintertime generosity.A table set up for gift wrapping those holiday purchases in glossy paper was staffed by North Hills Stars, a handicapable square dancing nonprofit that encourages people with developmental or physical disabilities to square dance with other handicapable dancers.The group's wrapping services were free; however, shoppers could donate to their cause. Almost without exception, buyers dropped a dollar or two in the donation jar.
Some even went above and beyond. For example, one shopper donated a crisp $20 bill and another patron, who wasn't carrying cash, bought and donated a $70 gift card as their books were being wrapped.While the day was longer Sunday, by nearly one full minute, shopping might have taken even longer in the township as an accident added to the holiday chaos.At around 12:30 p.m., according to the county emergency dispatchers, a construction vehicle struck a gas line near the grocery receiving bay at Walmart in Cranberry, sending natural gas into the building and shoppers out.The evacuation of the complex led some shoppers to leave the parking lot — and their full carts in the store.As customers returned and new ones arrived, picking through the aisles, employees in differently colored vests and some in plain clothes retrieved the carts and took them to central meeting points. The abandoned merchandise was categorized and restocked, awaiting the next last-minute Christmas shoppers.
