PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The hunt for last-minute gifts and groceries had many people flocking to shopping centers up and down the Treasure Coast.
"We were mentally preparing on the way," Steffie White, who was shopping at the Landing at Tradition, said.
"The traffic is all the way out onto Gatlin, just in the turning lane alone," Sean White, also a shopper, said. We knew it was going to be pretty serious when we was walking in."
Sean said some items, like specific LOL Dolls for their daughter, have been hard to find.
"I've been avoiding the stores but some things, you can't get online," Steffie White said. "I try to avoid it because of covid but you can't help it."
Partly to blame are supply chain issues, leaving some high demand toys only available at a premium price.
"A lot of things I was looking for on Amazon, I wanted to get it directly from Amazon, but there's a lot of third-party sellers that are making it more expensive," said Steffie White.
"It was crazy, like all the Legos were gone," said Luke Champion, a shopper. "Toys were just like all messed up."
Also in short supply are some food items.
"We went to Sam's Club, like everything was gone," Champion said. "Now we're going to go to Publix to try and pick up some food."
Champion said waiting is not a strategy that he'd recommend.
"They're not going to find everything they want, not at all," Champion said.
