Bay Area holiday shoppers grapple with wet weather

WALNUT CREEK (KTVU) -- Bad weather is often the enemy of holiday shopping, which is struggling to recover after a month of lackluster sales in November

At noon Thursday in Walnut Creek's toney and upscale shopping district, some shoppers rushed to get their shopping done before the storm brunt struck the East Bay.

"I came out at this time because the storm is supposed to come in later," shopper Diane Enos said. "If it's a downpour, I'm gonna make a run for the car, but I'm gonna really hustle and try to get my shopping done."

"I'm gonna really hustle and try to get my shopping done," shopper Gina Blair said.

"Well, it has to be storming more than this to keep me away and get it over with early this year," said shopper David Orsi.

According to industry figures, online shopping this year has risen 11 percent and brick-and-mortar stores are having a real tough time. And the threat of bad weather could make matters worse for some retailers.

But Orsi said it was still nice to cross some gifts off the holiday shopping list.

"It's kind of nice to get out too, you know, decorations and everything," Orsi said. "You can't do that online."

According to retail trends firm Shopper Track, some six of the 10 busiest shopping days are still ahead of us and most look to be dry. Also, Dec. 17 is known in retail circles as Super Saturday, because shoppers will be out in force. Christmas Eve falls on the following Saturday, which experts predict will be very slow.

"I like to order things online and then it comes into the store and I go in and try it on in the store and it's much more efficient to do it that way," Enos said.

I still like getting out and (experiencing) the hustle and bustle," Blair said. "It's still fun."

By KTVU reporter Tom Vacar.