Long lines expected as last-minute shoppers hit the stores

A Hawthorn Woods shopper planned to quickly run into Barnes & Noble Wednesday afternoon for gift cards and a calendar.

Nancy McGee approached the checkout counter at the Deer Park store and found 20 people in line ahead of her. "The lines were so long," the Christmas shopper said.

And suburban shoppers can expect more of the same during this final week before Christmas, according to a survey that found procrastination is big this season.

The National Retail Federation found that the average person had completed 46.7 percent of their holiday shopping by the second week of December. This is the lowest percentage since 2004.

According to the survey, nearly 42 million people, or 19 percent, had not even started their shopping as of late last week, while 8.6 percent of shoppers have completely finished.

Adults over 65 years old have completed the most shopping, 50 percent, while adults 45 to 54 have done the least at 44 percent.

Retailers will do what they can to get shoppers in their stores.

"Retailers know the final lap counts the most and are planning to emphasize promotions and discounts to bring in last-minute shoppers," said NRF President Tracy Mullin. "As Christmas Day creeps closer, retailers will be ready for an influx of procrastinators, from those who are checking the final names off their list to millions who haven't even started shopping," she said.

Retail experts are somewhat surprised that so many people were waiting to shop, especially because it has been well publicized that retailers have lower inventory levels this season because of the poor economy.

With many people shopping for bargains, discount stores (42 percent) and department stores (42 percent) can expect to see the most traffic in the coming days, according to the survey.

Grocery stores can also expect to see an increase in last minute shopping this year as more people consider food or candy as a gift item or head to supermarkets to purchase ingredients for homemade meals.

Electronic stores (22 percent), clothing or accessories stores (20 percent), outlet stores (14 percent) and drugstores (8 percent) will also see their share of holiday shoppers before the big day. A big chunk of procrastinators will also shop online (38 percent.)

Don't know what to buy? The majority of people say they have purchased apparel so far this year. And shoppers have also been busy buying books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games, toys and gift cards.