Last-minute suburban shoppers finding it's a breeze

Shoppers found plenty of parking spots and no long lines at the checkouts Wednesday as they whittled down their lists on the last day before Christmas.

"It's been awesome," said Dan Lundquist of Elgin, as he and wife, Jennifer, walked side-by-side on roomy sidewalks at the Algonquin Commons on Randall Road, searching for specific items for their 4-year-old son and older daughters.

"We've pretty much walked in and out without standing in any lines."

They said normally the shopping would be done earlier, but work kept them both busy and out of town.

Bri Ibarra, a floor-set associate at Hollister Co. used the relative quiet to take down the Christmas decorations at the entryway of the Algonquin Commons store.

"We were much busier yesterday," she said, as she pushed the garland into its storage bin. She said since the store is not open for business on Christmas Day, she wanted to get ahead on switching out the displays. "I already changed a display inside."

Shoppers were able to park within a few spaces of the stores as the parking lots were not full.

At the Deer Park Town Center on Rand Road, east of Barrington, the parking lots were slightly more crowded but shoppers could still walk side-by-side with their bags.

"I have a list," said Julie Wenckowski of Lake Zurich, as she and husband, Eric, each carried large bags full of gifts to be wrapped for their family.

"Why we didn't have a list a month ago I don't know," Eric Wenckowski said, smiling. "But she is driven. We've gone down the list."

The one thing they were stuck on was a jet airplane ornament. "We'll keep going," said Julie.

College student Jenna Pavlik, of Inverness, said she normally does all her Christmas shopping late because she doesn't have time to spend shopping between school and her job. She had bags of gifts for "seven to 10" people and said she was confident she would complete her shopping list in Deer Park.