RIVERDALE — The morning after Christmas, Ed Eschler set out to hit the post-holiday sales and ended up buying the one thing he didn’t find under his Christmas tree.
Another Christmas tree.
“It’s just a replacement,” the Roy resident said of the artificial tree he got for $130, 50 percent off at Target, at a sale Wednesday. “Our old tree is about 10 years old and is starting to look bad. This was a good deal.”
Wife Angela Eschler loaded daughter Emmrie, 2, into the car as her husband loaded the 7 1/2-foot “pine” into the back of their SUV.
“We’re usually out of town for Christmas, but the snow kept us here, so we thought we would check out some sales.
“So I’m going to be in the paper, but it will be for being cheap?” Eschler asked with a laugh.
Well, yes.
The parking lot, shared by multiple businesses, was crowded with cars coming and going, and with a snowplow trying to clear still-accumulating drifts.
Shoppers, drawn by the thought of post-Christmas discounts, packed their car trunks with bags of holiday wrapping paper, plastic-wrapped ornaments for next year, and red or green plastic storage bins to hold this year’s decorations.
Across the parking lot, Best Buy opened early to small crowds that grew as the day progressed. People walking out with bags of video games, boxed computers and gaming systems passed a few people with items for return.
“I bought a Kindle with my Christmas money,” said smiling shopper Sydney Hill, 11, from Ogden.
“Now I won’t have to worry about anyone saying I lost their’s,” she said, glancing at mom Kristen Hill.
It was actually a cellphone, not a Kindle, that her daughter “allegedly” lost, Kristen Hill said.
Hill, who got a new cellphone for Christmas, was the driver for son Gavin, 13, and for Sydney. Both kids were eager to spend gift money.
“I’m more a fan of Thanksgiving than Christmas,” said Kristen Hill, who hoped to finish shopping and take the family to a movie and dinner. “I prefer gratitude to greed.”
Matt Russell, of Ogden, brought son Ethan, 15, to Best Buy to return a headset that didn’t work on the left side. The duo returned the item for an identical model that worked.
Ethan’s favorite Christmas gift? “I got a bunch of nice church clothes,” he said.
“My wife spoiled me,” dad Matt Russell said. “I got a new watch and new dress shoes.”
Caleb Munson, 18, of Ogden, was dressed in bright green and red, and was shopping with fun as his top priority.
“I got a new longboard at the mall,” the snowboarding enthusiast said. “It was down $50 from its usual price. My parents usually give gift cards. That’s our Christmas tradition.”
Munson’s friend Nik Tobey, 17, of Ogden, shares his friend’s love of snowboarding.
“My best find so far is a $106 jacket, down from $190,” Tobey said. “It’s bright orange. It will be great for snowboarding. Nobody will miss me in neon orange.”
At the parking lot outside JC Penney in Riverdale, Ogden resident Anna Lee was organizing a handful of sales receipts for returns to several nearby stores. Her three children unloaded rejected Christmas bounty from the trunk of Smith’s car.
“Everybody ends up with the gifts they wanted at least by New Year’s,” Lee said, laughing. “We keep some presents, return some and shop the stores for deals. It keeps our holiday going.
“It’s a hassle, but it’s also kind of fun.”
Comments