Last weekend to get your holiday shopping done before Christmas

This is the last weekend to get all your holiday shopping done. Ideally you’d want to have it all over and done with by now, but realistically that’s easier said than done, and that means braving the holiday crowds.

Whether you’re shopping in-person or online, the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual holiday forecast projects that between November and December, people nationwide will spend more than $1 trillion. That’s compared to roughly $976 billion in 2024.

Hisham Foad, an Associate Professor of Economics at San Diego State University, echoed those findings. He said that despite inflation and tariffs weighing on the U.S. economy throughout 2025, overall spending is at an all-time high. But prices on a lot of popular holiday products, like toys, went up in price at least 1% this year.

So what does that mean for consumers?

“When you think about the kind of gifts that people are buying for the holidays, we’re looking at apparel, toys, electronics. These are things that historically have been dominated by imports from China,” said Foad. “I think you’re going to see people that are shifting spending a little bit away from those kinds of things,” Foad added.

That means some shoppers are being more “price sensitive,” and opting to shop at small businesses, rather than big name stores.

“I love to support small businesses, I mean all the way from shops to food to whatever, you find more fun things that way,” said Lori Lewis, who was doing some holiday shopping at Pangaea in Pacific Beach on Saturday.

Pangaea has been in business along Garnet Avenue since 2004.

“We have a variety of merchandise. There’s very little that we don’t have, there’s something for everyone,” said Deborah Molina, owner of gypSea Dreams.

The location is home to at least 65 different local vendors all under one roof. As Molina explained, the store features a wide variety of merchandise ranging from Christmas decorations, ornaments, clothing, home goods and other knickknacks.

“I’m after silly Christmas ornaments is what I really want to find, I’m hoping I find it here,” said Lewis.

Pangaea vendors told NBC 7 that this weekend is expected to be the busiest time of year for their businesses, and have a lot of regular customers who come back every year to find that perfect holiday gift for their loved ones.