Robin Gordin, a sales associate at Classy Cricket Too in downtown Carrollton, said the last weekend of shopping before Christmas will be a “killer.” Carrollton Target manager Craig Phillips said it will be intense.

Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak RCT Corp., noting that the fate of the holiday season for retailers depends on the final stretch, predicts business in the final days will be “huge.” According to ShopperTrak, five of the remaining days left until Christmas account for the biggest sales days of the season.

Like Martin, many local retailers are optimistic about this weekend.

Though Christmas shopping sales nationally have been called disappointing, retailers are hoping for last-minute shoppers to boost their bottom lines. And it doesn’t hurt that this year’s last-minute shopping falls on a weekend, extending into Christmas Eve on Monday, when many consumers will be off from work, giving them extra shopping time.

“We plan on a big one,” said Gordon. “Saturday, we have a lot of people coming in to help, a lot of employees. We think Saturday’s going to be just a killer.”

The store will be offering samples of jellies, soups and cakes to weekend shoppers.

Target also expects a busy weekend.

“We try to view this last week with the same intensity as Black Friday,” Phillips said. “It’s just a big week in terms of sales and the amount of traffic we have in the building.”

Some stores are planning for an early start to the weekend shopping. Three Daughters Boutique in downtown Carrollton held a special sale Thursday night.

“I think there’s a lot of people that have been shopping later or haven’t started shopping, so I hope to draw that crowd,” owner Vicki Anderson said. “It’s kind of an open-house celebration you know, ‘come, do your last-minute shopping,’ and I’m sure we will carry some of that into the weekend.”

Horton’s Books and Gifts is expecting a big weekend with customers picking up orders today, and purchasing gifts at the same time.

“It should help because people still have Christmas presents that they need,” said Horton’s owner Dorothy Pittman. “People who’ve ordered things will pick up things this weekend.”

She has marked down many Christmas items already and raffled off a Harry Potter book set Thursday.

At Rome Street Interiors, the clearance sales have already begun - a first for the story, said owner Cindy Alexander.

“I’ve been here for three years and I decided to have an early clearance sale,” Alexander said. “It helps the consumer, my customers, and myself, because that way I don’t have to pay so many taxes on items that are left. ...I’ve had a really good Thanksgiving up until now so that allowed me to do something.”

She hopes the low prices will draw in new customers who have never been to her store, she said.

“We’ve been so busy,” the Classy Cricket’s Gordon said. “I think we’ve been busier this year than last year.”

Not all businesses have had the early shoppers.

Chuck Willis, store manager for Lee Cole’s Fine Diamond Jewelry on the Adamson Square, said the traffic has been slower this year for most of the season.

“It’s picked up this week tremendously,” Willis said. “Folks have waited later.”

He said he’s not writing off the season yet. The store has marked down some of its jewelry 40 percent and that is bringing people in, Willis said.

“We’re hopeful,” he said. “You never can tell. ... People, they’ve waited a little bit later, but they’re doing it.”

Shoppers, meanwhile, said they aren’t done with their buying.

Linda Durham of Bowdon still has “about 25 percent more to go,” she said.

But other shoppers are just starting. Tyler Davis, a junior at Carrollton High School, is a self-proclaimed last minute shopper.

“I’m sort of like everybody else doing the last-minute shopping and stuff,” Davis said.

Davis said he, like most students, has a strict budget for Christmas shopping. He is relying on sales and creativity to get him through the season.

“I’m just going to sort of go around to different stores and find some good deals,” he said.

Retailers’ strategies of cutting prices are influencing some Christmas shoppers whose pocketbooks are suffering the effects of the drought and concerns with the economy.

Candace Buchanan from Carrollton said she has been sticking to a tight budget this year.

“My husband does landscaping and with the drought and everything it’s been strictly just close family and friends,” Buchanan said. “I’m an early shopper. I usually start shopping in September.”

She is just picking up a few last-minute items, but she prefers to shop online to avoid the crowds and save gas, she said.

Janie Kelley of Carrollton just finished her shopping, she said. She also is being careful because of the economy.

“(I was) just trying to be a little more cautious,” Kelley said. “I tried to make better choices with items, I guess you would say “ sale prices, stuff like that.”

Jacky Tomlin of Carrollton stuck to a budget a little smaller than last year’s because of economic fears.

“Just trying to keep better track of money this year,” Tomlin said. “That is because of the way the economy’s going.”

Sale prices have helped in her quest to spend less, but she also made the conscious decision to make do with less, she said.

Anderson said the economy has had a domino effect this year.

“If one business has been affected, it affects others,” she said. “If you’re business is not doing well, you’re not going to eat out as much. You’re not going to spend as much.”

She blames the housing market and rising interest rates on credit cards for the sluggish retail sales, but she also believes the season can be salvaged in this last weekend.

“It’s definitely picked up in the past week or so,” she said. “We’re looking forward to a happy ending of the year.”