Last-second Santas

“Usually, I spread out my shopping more, but I waited until the end. I was trying to save up money and holding out for the deals,’’ said Gadon, as he stood in the deserted mall with bags hanging from almost every finger. “These late hours are great and the sales are everywhere.’’

Across the region, anxious merchants battered by last weekend’s wicked northeaster are offering holdouts like Gadon a cornucopia of promotions and extended hours during the final countdown to Christmas. Toys “R’’ Us welcomed customers until 1 a.m. this morning - an hour longer than usual - and Sears for the first time planned to open its doors at 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve morning with some of the lowest prices of the season, including a $50 Craftsman tool set and $80 diamond bracelet.

The last Saturday before Christmas is traditionally the second-biggest spending day of the holiday season and a day when last-minute shoppers are out in force. Now, store owners are frantically trying to make up what was lost this weekend, when sales dropped 17.3 percent in the Northeast on Saturday compared with the same period last year, according to research firm ShopperTrak. The hit could not have come at a worse time for retailers already facing a gloomy climate.

So this year procrastinators are key to whether merchants will have a profitable holiday. Even before the snowstorm, a record number of shoppers were holding out for better deals and trying to save up cash to pay for gifts. A recent survey done by NPD Group, a market research firm, found that 84 percent of consumers had not completed shopping a week before Christmas, compared with 71 percent in 2008 and 62 percent the year before.

“There’s no question that we lost sales this weekend because people are waiting longer to do their shopping,’’ said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “People remember the huge deals last year and are assuming the 75 percent off for huge savings. There are good deals. They just aren’t as good as last year.’’

By this time last year, Edrine Francois of Milton had lined up all of her perfectly wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. But she waited longer this year to save cash, rather than use credit cards like last holiday. So far, Francois has not wrapped any gifts and is barely 50 percent done with her holiday shopping, even though she is planning to spend about $500 less. She is using the final days to hopscotch between Wrentham Village Premium Outlets, the Natick Collection, and South Shore Plaza, which extended its holiday shopping hours to midnight this week for the first time in years.

“Last year, the deals were a lot better,’’ Francois said. “But this year, I am spending only cash and when it’s done, I go home.’’

In an American Express report released this month, 31 percent of consumers said they were holding out for the best bargains and 19 percent were still saving money for holiday gifts. A staggering 10 percent of shoppers said they are waiting for post-holiday sales to buy presents for those on their lists this year.

The proliferation of procrastinators prompted Fin & Feather Sports in Upton to stay open two hours longer this week than it did in the days leading up to last year’s Christmas. The store has experienced a 20 percent increase in customers over the past week but overall holiday sales are expected to be flat.

“Money is tight, and people are pushing to their limits and holding out until the very last minute,’’ said sales manager Jeff LeClaire.

Some consumers are finding that the waiting game isn’t paying off this year. Store owners are more willing to run low, or even out of stock, rather than face being left with millions of dollars in unwanted merchandise at the season’s end. Last year, that resulted in discounts of up to 70 percent that drowned profits.

At the Best Buy in Dorchester, Peter Suchicki yesterday stared at the shelves in bewilderment after learning the electronics chain had run out of the classic DVD “Dumb & Dumber.’’ He had only finished about one-third of his shopping, well behind his pace of last year. But Suchicki felt a little better about the bargain gifts he landed with “Dances with Wolves’’ and “Rudy’’ DVDs for only $5 each, half the usual price.

“I’ve noticed more out of stock,’’ Suchicki, 23, said. “It’s frustrating, but I’ll just have to go to a few more stores to track it down.’’

At 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Marie Cherisme finally took a break at the food court in South Shore Plaza, where more than a dozen people lined up for late-night snacks at Sarku Japan. But Cherisme was not too happy. There were slim pickings in the stores - and everything left was too expensive. She settled on a handful of $25 gift cards.

Her daughter, Crystal Eloisy, 15, , clutched a plastic jar full of $20 in rolled coins that was meant to pay for her holiday presents. But after buying some candy and small stuffed animals at the Disney Store, Eloisy couldn’t find anything else she could afford and made plans to shorten her gift list this year.

“I thought I’d use them,’’ she said, resting her head on the jar. “But maybe we’ll come back after Christmas and find better deals.’’

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.