KNOXVILLE (WVLT) – A pair of East Tennessee mall’s stayed open late into Tuesday night just to cater to last minute shoppers.

On the eve of Christmas Eve, both West Town Mall and Knoxville Center Mall closed their doors at 11:00 PM.

Most were able to find what they needed at a reasonable price.

Debra Fortner was one of the many last minute shoppers in the mall on Tuesday night. She was eying a ring on sale in the midst of some very good shopping deals.

"If you get a good buy, you have got to take it," said Fortner, who drove to West Town Mall from Speedwell. She had been shopping for 20 straight days on December 23rd. “I think it's just crazy. I'm over it and I'm ready to go home."

She was also a little frazzled by the late shopping crowd which numbers in the thousands.

“There are people running into each other,” she said. “I think everybody's just on their last Christmas shopping thing, so I think they're tired, too."

Most stores were offering some of their best deals of the year. In fact a lot of items were marked down 20 to 70 percent.

“People are shopping a little more carefully and watching their money a little bit more,” said Dempsey Andes, another last minute shopper, “but many are still out buying."

Others at the mall were done shopping for all the big items on their lists, and were only looking for the small things.

"Just a lot of last minute things,” said Carla Wade, a shopper, “such as stocking stuffers and things like that."

Others like Billy Herron were just getting started Tuesday night.

"I usually do it on Christmas Eve, so I really started early this year," he said.