Shoppers Race to Find Last-Minute Gifts, Groceries Ahead of Storms

Large crowds in stores are nothing new to Appleton residents who wait until Christmas week to do their final holiday shopping.

“It’s kind of crazy,” said Woodman’s patron Todd Weisgerber.

And some, like Weisgerber, say it doesn’t help that several inches of snow are only a few hours away.

Woodman’s in Appleton was so busy with grocery shoppers that lines extended well past the checkout area. But Weisgerber wasn’t shocked.

“Living in Wisconsin my whole life, you’re kind of used to winter storms coming, and it kind of seems like people are scrambling last minute just to pick up their last things,” he said.

In Grand Chute at the Fox River Mall, Scheels was seeing a rush of people that Pro License Specialty Shop Manager Kevin Tremblay says was in part because of weather expectations.

“Definitely, definitely, cause people don’t want to be out in a storm. Especially when you’ve lived in Wisconsin your whole life you know — people know — you don’t want to be out in this,” said Tremblay.

“Planning on hunkering down tomorrow and I think you’re working from home and I’ll just be wrapping presidents,” said Scheels patron Tristain Clark. “We’re not planning on leaving.”

Tremblay says he’s seen a big increase in sales at Scheels over the last few days.

“It’s really been busy today. Between our regular traffic in the store and our web and our BOPIS which is customers buy online and come pickup in the store, so it’s really been busy,” he said.

Scheels is open on Christmas Eve, which is usually one of their busiest days of the year. Although upcoming driving conditions might be pressuring some to go a littler earlier than usual.

“We got here kind of early actually so it wasn’t so bad during work hours, but we noticed that everybody’s coming out right once work was done. So, it’s getting kind of crazy,” said Clark.

Woodman’s is closed starting on Christmas Eve at 6 a.m. until Dec. 26 at 6 a.m. Scheels is closed on Christmas day.

Workers at Scheels and Woodman’s expect Wednesday through Christmas Eve to stay busy but maybe a little less so after the snow hits the ground.