HGTV Star Christina Haack Has a Totally Relatable Christmas Shopping Complaint
Going to the mall just isn’t what it used to be.
On Friday, Christina Haack took to social media to share her totally relatable story of shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. Unfortunately, her quest to find the perfect item ended in frustration.
Christina Haack shames Saks after a disappointing shopping experience
“No one goes to the mall department stores anymore because the mall department stores not only have nothing work looking at but also no one helps you when you actually find something,” Haack wrote on her Instagram Story.
The HGTV star then went on to call out the disappointing store by name.
“@saks do better … an hour of my life that I’ll never get back,” she wrote.
Haack isn’t alone in turning away from in-person shopping. When it comes to buying holiday gifts this year, nearly 2 in 5 people Bankrate surveyed intended to do most of their shopping online. Department stores in particular have taken a major hit in recent years. In 1993, roughly 14% of all retail sales in the U.S. were through department stores. In 2024, retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s captured just 2.6% of total sales, according to Fortune.
Some chains like Macy’s and Nordstrom have managed to woo back customers by making their stores more inviting, the magazine noted. But other stores were struggling. That included Saks, where Haack was shopping. The chain has been “deep in the doldrums” this year, with sales slumping 13% in the third quarter. One big reason for the decline? Vendors haven’t been shipping enough items to the stores because they were experiencing delays in getting paid. That could explain the difficulty Haack experienced in finding what she was looking for at the store.
‘The Flip Off’ star previously revealed she was trying to cut down on her spending
Haack’s latest update isn’t the first time she’s shared a relatable story about shopping. Last spring, she opened up about having to slash her spending in the wake of her contentious divorce from her third husband, Josh Hall.
“Paying for this divorce hasn’t been cheap,” she wrote an an update on her Instagram Story alongside a photo of her in a stylish black minidress she bought a Nordstrom. “[S]o I’ve been trying to cut down on my spending, especially when it comes to clothes. This dress was super cute and only $65.”
For more news and exclusive interviews, follow Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram.
