BRENTWOOD, Mo. – There’s a good chance you or someone you know needs to get a little more shopping done before Christmas Day on Monday. If you venture out, brace yourself for large crowds.

The National Retail Federation expects 142 million people will shop at stores or online on Dec. 23, a day dubbed as Super Saturday in the consumer world. Christmas Eve on Sunday should be busy too for businesses that stay open through the weekend.

Tens of thousands will likely visit stores around the St. Louis metropolitan area this weekend to complete their holiday shopping.

Some people are already getting an appetizer of the holiday shopping rush. At the Brentwood Promenade in St. Louis County, FOX 2 employee Justin Ackerman shared photos of large crowds and congested traffic to enter the shopping center. He says there are lines all the way from the main entrance to Brentwood Boulevard.

For many retailers, the Christmas season is the most profitable time. The National Retail Federation states holiday sales in November and December averaged around 20 percent of total retail sales over the past five years.