“The most wonderful time of the year” is around the corner, and shoppers are preparing to shell out their money on the perfect gifts.

“There’s a lot of good ideas for friends of ours, so we’ve been looking around, making sure that we like stuff and seeing if there’s any of ideas,” said Kate Griggs, a customer at Zayda’s Toy Emporium in Warwick.

She and Olivia Struckus are frequent customers at the local toy shop. As the holidays approach, they’ll be making more trips to find toys for their loved ones.

“I think it’s still important to splurge on your friends and family, especially for things that they like,” Griggs said.

Wendy and Wayne Davidovitch, co-owners of Zayda’s Toy Emporium, said they have already seen folks getting a jump start on their holiday shopping this year thanks to supply chain shortages, a changing economy and other factors.

“Last year, there was such a hard time getting certain items that people are afraid that it’s gonna happen again this year; you know, with distribution not being as good as it should be, so I think they’re trying to beat the rush,” said Wayne.

A recent inflation poll conducted by the National Retail Federation shows 62% of holiday shoppers plan to spend more, so they can get those they care about the things they want.

Another option is to save money. According to a survey from Consumer Reports, 35% of Americans plan to cut back on holiday gift spending this year.

Griggs and Struckus are picking up extra hours at their jobs to ensure they have enough cash to spend on presents this season.

“When you’re getting your income, put a little bit of it aside for your friends and family to get them things for the holidays and just making sure that you’re only getting things that you really love and not just getting things that you only half like,” Griggs said.

“Quality over quantity,” Struckus added.

The shop owners suggest getting some of the more popular items as soon as possible.

“I think for us, it might be busier just because we have more space to have more product, and I also think since the pandemic, more and more people want to shop local,” Wendy Davidovitch said.