From now until Christmas, it's wall-to-wall Macy's

The chain will keep open 14 of its stores (none in California) until Saturday at 6 p.m. An additional 27 locations will stay open until 2 a.m. each day (see local list below). This is an expansion of the extra-hours schedule that Macy's first introduced several years ago (Toys "R" Us also has non-stop shopping until Christmas Eve). The WSJ's Justin Lahart wonders about the strategy:

With some of the biggest names in retail headed in this never-close direction, it's easy to imagine a future where more stores start doing this. The question is, to what effect? Consumer spending is essentially a zero-sum game--people spend what they spend, and that's that. If all stores decide to stay open 24/7 for the holidays, all they are likely to get is disgruntled employees and higher operating costs. That's no way to spread the holiday cheer.

I see the point. But keep in mind that extended hours can tap into the online shopping crowd that will have a hard (and expensive) time getting last-minute purchases delivered for the holiday. With brick-and-mortar retailers, there are no shipping worries - and no extra costs. Here are the Socal stores open to 2.

* Macy's Burbank, Burbank
* Macy's Los Cerritos, Cerritos
* Macy's Los Cerritos Home
* Macy's South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa
* Macy's South Coast Plaza Home
* Macy's Culver City, Culver City
* Macy's Downey Stonewood Center, Downey
* Macy's Glendale Galleria, Glendale
* Macy's Northridge Fashion Center, Northridge
* Macy's Lakewood, Lakewood
* Macy's Montebello & Montebello Home, Montebello
* Macy's Santa Ana Mainplace, Santa Ana
* Macy's Fashion Center Del Amo, Torrance
* Macy's Del Amo & Macy's Del Amo Home, Torrance