I'm sorry, but I cannot side with you on this issue. It's Christmas Eve. The workers I'm sure have a VERY busy day. They want to get home to spend time with loved ones. They do not want to be stuck at the store after hours because of a last minute customer taking their sweet time. I'm sure you can understand this, since you are in retail management (or so you claim).

Next time, don't wait until 5 minutes until closing. You have no one to blame for this but yourself.