Let’s wrap it up

‘Super Saturday’ shoppers scramble for gifts

SHOPPERS ACROSS the city were making their lists and checking them twice as they scoured stores Saturday in search of last-minute Christmas gifts.

Retailers dubbed the final full shopping day ahead of the holiday “Super Saturday”and the National Retail Federation noted that as many as 125 million Americans were store-bound.

Some were just beginning to check names off of their naughty and nice lists.

“This is my first time actually out shopping this holiday. I’m always last-minute. I always wait normally until Christmas Eve,” said Frances Ammons, 30, from Highland Park, N.J., as she stalked the aisles at a Century 21 clothing store in lower Manhattan.

At the Union Square holiday market, heavy rains kept the crowds thin as a handful of last-minute shoppers made their way through the stalls.

Ethel Cooks, a social worker in her 50s, from East New York, cradled her cell phone to her ear while checking shoe sizes and the status of gifts for her nieces and nephews with a relative.

“We’re coordinating,” she said. “Like you give this list to this person and I’ll give this list to this person and we’ll get more stuff. But we’re in communication so we don’t get them more than they need.”

Cooks said her master plan was paying off, after she dropped visiting family off at Penn Station and made her way to stores across Manhattan.

“I went to Macy’s, Foot Locker, Modell’s, GameStop, everywhere,” she said. “I’m looking for sneakers, electronics, games,” she said. “I just like the season. I think it’s festive. We were taught that Christ is the reason for the season, but we also like the traditional gift-giving.”

Priscilla Fontanez, 30, an orthodontist assistant from Brooklyn, said a busy workload left her scrambling for the perfect presents for siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.

“It’s not so relaxing. I have a lot of people to shop for,” she said. “We’re just going to get together at my mother’s house and exchange gifts. It's going to be a good holiday.”