Last week of shopping may be good for local stores

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- It's crunch time for holiday shoppers as we enter the final week. Online sales are booming, but what about brick and mortar stores and shopping malls?

Malls around the Bay Area are expecting an influx of shoppers walking through the doors of their stores to do some last minute holiday shopping so they have their gifts in hand and on time.

It may not look all that busy at the mall, but brick and mortar retailers say the picture doesn't necessarily tell the story.

At Concord's Sunvalley Mall, foot traffic may be a tad slow, but sales are up so far, this holiday season.

"We've noticed that maybe while some of the traffic might be slightly less than last year, volume is up and sales are up," Kim Trupiano, a spokesperson for the Sunvalley Shopping Center, said.

According to the latest survey by First Data, store sales are up this year by about 2 percent, but online sales have surged more than 4.5 percent.

One couple we spoke with told us they're only in the mall for a couple of reasons. They did 80-90 percent of their shopping online this year.

"Some things you just need to buy in person," shopper Jeff Brinton said.

And there are those who will bypass the more impersonal online experience for the one a shopper gets in a store where there's so much to see and touch.

"When you touch the things, you feel them, you think of a person and you might go over your budget a little, but it's more fun," shopper Sherry Peysson said.

"They can touch it, feel it, see it, ask about it and get it gift wrapped," David McCaulou, from the David M. Brien Store, said.

According to the National Retail Foundation, 90 percent of shoppers still have at least one more gift to buy and chances are they'll do it in a store.