Anne Gadsden handles Christmas shopping the “new fashioned” way. She puts on a CD of classical music such as Pachelbel’s Canon in D, logs on to the internet, and starts surfing. The Newark mother of three says, “I’ve already done the store thing and now its time for me to get gifts for family members who don’t live in New Jersey. I visit Amazon and Buy.com; between the two companies I usually find something that I need. Besides, shipping is free if I spend at least $25 and that isn’t hard to do!”
Tasha Crimson shops early. Very early. “I shop all summer long starting when we go to the shore after July 4th all the way up to Labor Day. That’s when I’m done. I don’t have to put up with the hassles, I shop at my own speed, and I don’t have to freeze as I run from my car to the store!,” the East Orange grandmother of eight chuckled.
In Wanaque, Bob Caprioti has his own style of shopping. Or not. He simply has his wife pick up everything for her family, his family and for their three children. “She knows I hate to shop. Fortunately, Rita loves to shop; why not let her do what she...