At Divine Treasure’s in Manchester, the craziness is just beginning.
“The amount of chocolate I shipped in the next few days, we have like 6000 pounds,” said Diane Blanchette-Wagemann, owner of Divine Treasures. The National Retail Federations predicts consumers will spend a near record $19.6 billion on loved ones, friends and even their pets this holiday.
They say the average person will spend over $143. Candy sales are expected to reach $1.8 billion. Blanchette-Wagemann says she won’t see the bulk of her sales until Valentine’s Day night.
“Unfortunately it gets busy the last part because most people buying chocolate are men and they like to run late,” said Blanchette-Wagemann.
However, if you are running late making dinner reservations, you might be out of luck. Burtons Restaurant in South Windsor says spot started filling up six weeks ago.
“We are booked up until about 9 p.m. Wednesday,” said Phillip Graham, service manager.
The NRF expects 35 percent of consumers to spend a $3.7 billion on an evening out this year. Graham says they extended the special holiday menu until Sunday for those who missed out on a February 14th reservation.