With some donning Santa hats and others in holiday sweaters, shoppers filled malls and stores across Central Florida on Saturday trying to finish last-minute purchases or find that perfect gift two days before Christmas.

Nearly 142 million people across the country were expected to shop online or in stores on what’s dubbed Super Saturday — the last major shopping day of the year, according to the National Retail Federation. The last time Super Saturday fell on Dec. 23 was 2017, when just over 126 million people made holiday purchases.

“I ended up waiting to the very end this year to finish,” said Marie Jenkins, of Deltona, as she stood on the crowded sidewalk along Park Avenue in Winter Park, holding two Williams-Sonoma bags stuffed with gifts. “I don’t usually shop this late before Christmas. But tomorrow I’ll be in the kitchen cooking and baking all day.”

A long line of people stood outside the Lululemon store along the avenue, waiting to make their way inside the crowded boutique that sells athletic apparel.

Indeed, the top-selling item this holiday season is clothing, followed by gift cards, toys, video games and food, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

Still, it wasn’t all about shopping.

Jose Arroyo of Puerto Rico was visiting family in Orlando. And each year he traditionally visits the Winter Park Farmers Market off Central Park to sample some baked goods.

“Every time we come to Orlando we come here with family,” he said with a smile. “It’s tradition.”

Meanwhile, at Magpie’s Modern General Store in downtown Sanford the hot-selling items so far have been jewelry and the shop’s unique colorful socks with funny pictures or snarky messages.

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“It’s perfect,” store employee Mur McKnight said. She added that other hot items have been jewelry and keychains.

Consumers may feel more optimistic about spending money this holiday season. According to estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income rose $81.6 billion in November, or 0.4% compared to the previous month. It was the eighth straight monthly increase.

After rising steadily for the past three years, prices fell in November on a monthly basis, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department showing that inflation is starting to slow.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which measures prices consumers pay for goods and services, dropped 0.1% in November compared with October. That drop brought the annual inflation rate to 2.6% in November. In October the inflation rate was 2.9%. And in June 2022 inflation reached a 40-year high of 7.1%.

At Orlando International Airport, officials said they expected 186,000 travelers to go through their gates Saturday and nearly 7.5 million passengers this month.

Still, with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, Herb Elliott, an attorney who lives in Palm Harbor, found a quiet spot on a park bench along Park Avenue to smoke a cigar and watch people walk by carrying shopping bags.

“I came here to escape and just to relax,” Elliott said with a laugh.

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com