1"They were the wrong kind," said the Danvers resident, understandably declining to be more specific about why he returned that particular Christmas gift.
Geheb was among the thousands of post-holiday shoppers who ventured out to the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers and the Northshore Mall in Peabody over the weekend.
No longer facing the Christmas deadline, they strolled the malls' homogeneous hallways in unhurried fashion, stopping to return a present or take advantage of a gift card.
The two malls, both owned by the Simon Property Group, were "packed" on Saturday, according to Liberty Tree Mall assistant general manager Matthew Bourassa.
"We had a pretty good holiday season, but (Saturday) may have been the busiest day I've seen at the (Liberty Tree) mall," he said. "From beginning to end it was just packed."
Bourassa attributed the large crowds to the fact that Christmas fell on a Friday, leaving people with a wide-open Saturday to exchange gifts or use their gift cards.
Yesterday was less crowded, but the intentions were the same. Melba and Bill Meunier of Danvers went to the Liberty Tree Mall to spend the $10 in "gift bucks" they had accumulated through their Christmas shopping at Kohl's.
"It's lovely," Bill Meunier said. "You buy stuff and they give you free money."
The Meuniers were facing a deadline, although it had nothing to do with Christmas.
"We've got to be home in time for the Patriots game at 1 o'clock," Bill said.
The Hines family had both gift cards to redeem and items to exchange. Debbie Hines was fortified with several gift cards to Kohl's as well as coupons to Famous Footwear and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Her mother, Diane Sponholtz of Salem, was returning a camera case that was too small.
Hines' 3-year-old twin daughters, Ryleigh and Brenna, were also excited about shopping, but not at the mall.
"They want to go to McDonald's," Hines said.
The Ward family of Danvers did double duty this weekend at Liberty Tree. Jack and Rita Ward and their two grown daughters, Jacqueline and Leslie, showed up Saturday to watch the movie "It's Complicated." It was sold out, so they took in "The Blind Side" instead.
Yesterday, they returned on a less complicated Sunday and had no trouble getting tickets for their original choice.
Another Danvers family, the Clarks, also went to the movies — at least for a while. Three-year-old Bryson Clark got a little antsy during "Alvin and the Chipmunks," so he and his mother, Kristen, took a break from the computerized rodents to watch the real puppies in the window at the nearby Pet Express.
"I left my 5-year-old and my husband in the theater," Kristen said.
Terry Kehoe's visit to the mall had nothing to do with movies or returns or gift cards. Kehoe lives in Orient, Wash., a town of 50 people about eight miles from the Canadian border. For him, the big attraction at the mall was the mall itself.
"Our town has a grocery store and that's it," he said. "The nearest mall is 100 miles away."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
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