SOUTHWEST FLORIDA – Last-minute holiday shoppers in Southwest Florida rushed to supermarkets like Publix, Walmart, even Farmer Joe’s to grab those final items before Christmas.<\/p>\n
As many stores closed by as soon as 4 p.m., and would stay closed for the holiday Thursday.<\/p>\n
Just hours away from closing, shoppers like Marc Gazal from Cape Coral were determined to make the chaotic trip worthwhile.<\/p>\n
“I just called my wife when I’m in the car, I said, ‘You won’t believe how many cars are over here. I’ve never seen it like this,'” Gazal said.<\/p>\n
He was on a mission to find the missing ingredient for his family’s breakfast on Christmas<\/p>\n
“It’s nutmeg,” said Gazal. “We went shopping yesterday, we thought we had all of our stuff, and now we’re looking to do breakfast on Christmas morning. We’re going to do French toast, and we don’t have nutmeg, so I’m going to go in there and try to fight the crowd and see, all for nutmeg.”<\/p>\n
Diana and David Scialla, and Cora Lursen, all also from Cape Coral, were looking for more than just one ingredient.<\/p>\n
“We’re coming to pick up some prime rib for tomorrow and some shrimp cocktail today and a couple other seafood items,” the Scialla’s said. “Christmas tradition is filet mignon, bacon-wrapped filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes. So we had to pick up steaks,” Lursen said.<\/p>\n
As their families grow each year, so do their grocery lists, and the prices.<\/p>\n
“It gets expensive, and prices have been going up,” said Diana Scialla. “I don’t see them coming down, but it is what it is.”<\/p>\n