With Black Friday and the official start to the holiday shopping season still a week away, the flurry of Christmas spending was alive and well at Fair Park over the weekend as Dallas' Chi Omega Christmas market made its post-pandemic return.
“We are so excited to be back in person," chairwoman Hilary Dooley said. "I mean, the market is alive and that is such a good feeling after having to take a year away virtual."
"We've seen a lot of early shoppers, like earlier than ever,” Favor the Kind owner Carley Seale said.
It's an enthusiasm unlike any Seale has seen in her 14 years in retail.
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“I think people are just ready. I mean, last year was a little depressing at the holidays,” she said.
That enthusiasm could be one of the driving forces behind October's record $638 billion retail and restaurant sales, which was well above the year before.
Economists say it’s a sign Christmas spirits aren't yet dampened by the highest inflation seen in decades.
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For shoppers like Stephanie Moore and Telisa Schelin, supply chain shortages are an added pressure to check their lists off earlier than usual.
“It’s a lot of guesswork when you're trying to figure out what to get for all of the kiddos when you don't really have the Santa list yet and just trying to be creative and grabbing things when you see them,” Shelin said.
Though many are getting out early, the National Retail Federation predicts this early excitement is just the start of a holiday season that could shatter previous records.
It forecasts sales will only grow through November and December as we await Santa's arrival.
