My Christmas Shopping Adventure

I braved Bellevue Square Mall (one of the Seattle area's largest malls) this Thurdsay evening to do some shopping. My girlfriend and I arrived around 9pm and shopped until 10:30pm.

There were signs it was packed earlier in the day based on the "lot full" signs still left in place.

Our first stop was Papyrus to pick up some cards. There were a few people in there. Nothing out of the ordinary though. I did not have to stand in line.

The next stop was Crabtree & Evelyn to buy something for my mom. I spent probably 20 minutes thinking about what to buy. I was their only paying customer during the period. Someone else came in while we were there but was just looking. Another couple did the same.

We stopped for a drink at Orange Julius. There was one person in front of us. We waited about 30 seconds in that line.

That's all I really needed to do today, but we decided to walk through the Macy's Home Store. We really could use more sheets and I'm in a hoarding mood these days. For the 15 minutes or so we spent in that section of the store, we were once again the only paying customers. We were drawn to the 60% off sale on flannel sheets. We bought three sets. That's all we bought. I might even go back and buy more before the weekend is over. It isn't like sheets ever go bad.

I'm not sure what I expected to see on a Thursday night. I generally try to go when others aren't around. This year it seemed especially empty. Perhaps business was much more intense earlier in the day, but based on what I saw it doesn't exactly look like a stellar shopping season to me.

So ends my story. Completely anecdotal and most likely nearly completely useless. Or is it?

Holiday shopping hits the skids
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After getting off to a fast start last month, holiday sales at some of the nation's largest retailers have slowed to an excruciatingly slow pace and mall traffic has dropped dramatically.

Christmas Shopping Gloom Spreads Throughout U.K.
London, England (AHN) - Like many Americans, British consumers are not rushing to shopping malls and department stores. The Christmas shopping gloom is over the nation, bugged by worries over expectations of a high inflation rate next year.