By Jamie Carter
CCC Journalism Program
DEPTFORD – With Christmas only two weeks away and the mall hours changing for the holiday, my days have just become a whole lot longer. The Deptford Mall will be opening all next week from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. It would be in everyone’s best interest to head out to the mall soon, to catch all the sales that are going on before it’s too late.
I work in the children’s store called P.S. from Aeropostale. Considering we just opened in October, we are still rather new to the mall; however, people have made us feel very welcomed.
“We’re so glad you finally opened up here in Deptford, saves us the trip of having to drive to the Cherry Hill Mall or the Promenade,” said Jennifer Sander.
The Deptford Mall does rather well throughout the year. However, Black Friday, you wouldn’t believe it until you saw it. This year, the entire mall opened up at midnight and stayed open until 11 p.m. to kick off the holiday. Since then, the businesses have been booming.
With a couple of new stores that opened within the year, such as Tillys, Buckle, Charming Charlies and P.S., I think the mall is doing rather well despite the troubles consumers are having because of the recession.
“I have been so worried about saving money these last couple of months, I’m ready to enjoy and spend now that the holidays are here,” said Kathy Carter.
Walking into the mall, seeing it all decorated, hearing Christmas music and seeing the children waiting anxiously to sit on Santa’s lap puts you into the holiday spirit.
“This year is my niece’s first Christmas. We are all so excited to celebrate it with her. As soon as I heard Santa was in the mall, I knew I needed to take her to see him,” said Aliccia Hans.
While waiting in the crazy holiday lines, you’d be surprised how many small conversations start up ,such as people sharing coupons, talking about the new toys that are out and just discussing what plans one another has. It’s a great feeling knowing that so many different people are able to mesh together and get along.
I guess this really is the season to be jolly.