Fresno residents tackle last minute gift shopping on 'Super Saturday'

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's Super Saturday, the second busiest shopping day of the year and Fresno shoppers are feeling the impacts.

"Hard to find things, half the shelves are empty, there's not very much left," shopper Willie Alvarado said.

"It was very crowded but we got all the stuff that we needed to," shopper Anjelica Manriquez said.

"It was real busy so they have it under control so it was really nice," shopper June D'Ambrosio said.

Hundreds of shoppers could be seen going in and out of the Target parking lot in Northwest Fresno near Herndon Avenue and Riverside Drive.

Getting everything from wrapping paper to Super Mario toys and the Fresno police department and other law enforcement agencies are out patrolling for Operation Christmas presence.

"We're out there, we're out there in large numbers, we have high visibility of uniformed officers present," Lt. Paul Cervantes said.

Cervantes says there are also undercover officers to keep everyone safe.

"We want to make sure that shoppers are not victimized by individuals that are predatory in nature and look for individuals that quite often sometimes, unwittingly make themselves a bigger target," Cervantes said.

Another headache for shoppers started before they got into the stores.

"You kind of had to wait around for a parking spot," shopper Karen Rosenthal said.

There were packed parking lots, some telling Action News it's like playing bumper cars just to get in.

"If you come out at the last minute, just make sure you're not nervous or anything about driving," D'Ambrosio said.

Police also say that if you are coming out to shop, try to park in well-lit areas and put your items in the trunk if possible to prevent theft.

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