Twas the night before Christmas

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (WDTN) - Roger Lester may have been out buying presents Monday, but he's already been given one great gift this year.

"I thought it would be packed in here but it's not bad at all," Lester says.

Lester is one of the last minute shoppers 2 NEWS found making a list and checking it at least once at the Kohls in Beavercreek.

But the thing missing from that list in some cases, the long lines.

"The weekend it was extremely busy so I think a lot of the shoppers got everything taken care of over the weekend," says Kohls Store Manager Eric Larson.

But even with the weekend, some still put those final few hours to good use.

"Usually people don't have full baskets on Christmas Eve," Larson says. "A lot of last minute items."

For the stores, the day just about put the wraps on the holiday shopping season.

Some have described it as subdued, but Kohls says it's been just as spirited as ever.   

"It's been very good for us," Larson says. "The business has come a little bit later with three extra shopping days this year versus last year."

But no matter how many shopping days there are you'll always have some who like to use the last one.

First for shopping, then for wrapping.

"That's probably what I'll do all night," Lester says.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

But some of those last-minute gifts will end up as returns.

Maybe that Christmas gift didn't knock your socks off or perhaps "Gangnam" is no longer your style.

"Just things I didn't really care for," is what one person said about the gifts they were returning.

While many last minute shoppers filled stores like Kohls in Beavercreek to try to buy gifts, already some were taking them back.

"I'm just going to go find more items," said one gift returner.

When it comes to returns, Kohls says it will likely have a steady stream of them for the next few weeks.

While you can take back anything there and get store credit, receipt or no receipt, other places have more strict policies.

"A gift receipt is the best thing to have because they are guaranteed the person paid for it if they have the gift receipt," Larson says.

So give the gift of a receipt with your present this year or you can always go the gift card route and save some trouble.

Stores are counting on them for a post-holiday boost.

"It's huge," Larson says. "People come in with that gift card and they spend it right away. They don't like to hold it."

Many will get a chance to use those gift cards the day after Christmas when Kohls opens its doors at 5 a.m.