CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — From the parking lot to the food court, people flocked to La Palmera Mall to take care of their last-minute shopping on Friday.
Jose Jiménez from El Paso is spending his first Christmas away from home. He came to the mall to see what he could find for his new friends in town.
"I really wanted to do something big coming here. I should've done it earlier, dude! There's barely anything. But at the end of the day, you still find some good things here. I found cologne and a couple of jackets," Jiménez said.
Lush Cosmetics associate Addy Mears has worked at the mall for a few years now as a seasonal worker. Every year around this time, she said things get busy.
"Honestly, there's been a lot. It comes in waves where we'll have lulls and then a bunch of people come in. I have a lot of people who come in and they're like, 'I don't know what to get.' So, I have some basic boxes and I'm like 'These are really simple. You can give this to anybody," Mears said.
Communications director for CASA of the Coastal Bend, Diana Booth was at the mall helping volunteers wrap gifts and collect donations for the holidays. She said her team has had their hands full with wrapping shoppers' last-minute gifts.
"Let me tell you, it gets really busy because everybody is last minute shopping, so we've been wrapping so many gifts," said Booth.
"They say it's such a stress reliever that they don't have to go home, and gift wrap their items. It's funny because every time that we ask someone, 'Are you done shopping?' They'll say, "No, I still have to get some more things!'"
If you're one of those last-minute shoppers who still needs to get a few things off some Christmas lists, the La Palmera Mall will be open Dec. 23 until 11p.m. They'll also be open on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.