cjs216 as I stated before I love christmas shopping as most of us do however sometimes the malls just get way too crowded and then you have your jacket to carry and you have warm clothes on . And mostly you carrying around alot of shopping bad and with all the crowds, it is hard. I think it would be hard for anyone. For us me and my dh and family we do not start shopping until December first, so we do start late and perhaps thats not always a good thing,, However while I am not crazy about the crowds, this post was asking do you think the stores or malls will be a little less empty due to the ecominic hard times we all have experienced... Peace.. CAtherine