Las Vegas Christmas Eve shoppers find short lines early in the day

Southern Nevadans heeded the Christmas Eve big-crowd warnings.

And visitors to town even paid attention to that Transportation Security Administration admonition about taking wrapped presents on planes.

“This is it. I’m done,” North Las Vegan Sharon Liberty said early Monday as she emerged from the North Las Vegas Target store on North Fifth Street.

Liberty, who was shopping with her sister, Long Beach, California, resident Kellie Morris, said getting out early was the solution to avoiding crowds.

The National Retail Federation said nationwide, only 7 percent of Americans wouldn’t have their Christmas shopping done by Sunday. Most shopping activity was completed earlier in the weekend on what was dubbed “Super Saturday.”

Target opened its doors at 7 a.m. and the pleasant sunny weather brought out the last of the procrastinators. Nearby, at Kohl’s, the store had been open 24 hours. At around 7, the parking lot was nearly empty — shoppers had already left their mark.

“This was the perfect time to come here,” Morris said.

“And I’m glad we came here, no muss, no fuss,” her sister said. “When we were finished shopping, there was no checkout line. There may be some now, but when we were in there, there was no wait at all.”

The Retail Federation’s survey of 134 million consumers indicated most people — 34 percent — would make their last purchase a week before Christmas with 16 percent expecting to be done by Super Saturday.

A small number, 4 percent, indicated they’d be back making final purchases after Christmas.

California resident Dawn Fisher, a former Las Vegan, said she simply forgot to buy a few things before leaving California and needed to make one last stop.

“I’ve got everything I need,” Fisher said. “I hope I don’t have to go to another store.”

Out-of-state travelers Sarah, Tammy and Natalie Valentine came without gifts by design.

Sarah, whose mother lives in North Las Vegas, and her two daughters had limited space for presents on the plane and followed the TSA’s instructions not to wrap what they were able to bring.

The quick trip to Target Monday gave them the opportunity to wrap up their shopping.

Neftali Rivera of North Las Vegas took his young daughter shopping the day before Christmas.

“I think she just wants to go home and open everything, so I think we’re about ready,” he said.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.