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Randall Haws pushed a shopping cart containing Star Wars Lego sets Wednesday and eyed small tubs of Play-Doh in the toy section of Target in College Station.
Last-minute shopping for him, and several others at local stores, is a recurring experience.
"There's no incentive to get it done early," said the 35-year-old, who shopped for his nieces and nephews. "And then you have to hide the presents, too."
The battered economy slashed retail sales and reined in consumer spending nationwide, but it failed to faze the procrastinators' spirit.
"I always wait until the last minute," said Alene Gregory, a Dime Box resident shopping for clothing for her grandkids at Post Oak Mall. "Been that way my whole life."
Gregory was supposed to thaw a duck she's cooking for Christmas, but she put that off, too. Now she's going to have to bake the bird, instead.
It was harder to tell the career procrastinators from the others this year because there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Not everyone shopping Wednesday had time-management issues.
"Some people have a tradition -- Christmas Eve is their day to shop," said Michael Smith, a manager at Earth Art in downtown Bryan. "We had a couple of those people today."
Nansi Coe visited the store to pick up a few last-minute presents -- sterling silver rings -- for family members. She walked through wooden cases containing dreidels, incense wands, Chinese finger traps, a Guatemalan drum and much more.
"These are just last-minute fun things," she said, insisting that she had completed most of her Christmas shopping earlier.
Mary Davis of Bryan searched Post Oak Mall for a Dallas Cowboys cooler for her husband, but they were sold out. She had gotten most of her shopping done earlier, but her husband hinted that he had gotten her something bigger.
"I'm like, 'Aw, man, I've got to get him something else now,'" she said.
Davis, like many others, said she wasn't in the mood to shop this year, with the economy tanking and money tight.
Nicole Brunson tucked Play-Doh and a pop-up tent, presents for her 2-year-old son, under one arm and used the other to call family for buying advice.
"It's frustrating," the 26-year-old said as she shopped at Target. "But having a deadline is a motivator. It's not a good thing. It's stressful. But it always gets done."
It's going to be a busy week for Brunson. She is getting married in Las Vegas this week to avoid the complications of a large wedding. "Too much hassle," she said.
The top gifts this Christmas are toys, electronics, children's clothes, video games and gift cards, according to America's Research Group, a consumer research firm.
Children's clothes saw the largest increase, with about 27 percent of shoppers buying them, compared with 16 percent last year, according to the group.
Wal-Mart dominated Christmas sales. More than two-thirds of people who shopped the weekend before Christmas did so at Wal-Mart, compared with one-third last year, according to the group.
