Holiday shopping sales mixed locally

With the recession lingering and national retailers expecting a modest holiday shopping season, the local retail scene is similar to last year’s.

Dan Meyer, president of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, said there were no hard statistics available for seasonal sales, but the anecdotal evidence suggested people were shrugging off bad economic news and continuing to spend, albeit cautiously, this Christmas.

“We were in the mall on Saturday and there was brisk business going on,” Meyer said.

“I was really pleased with what was going on. There was a special show there and my wife and I picked up a couple of items we didn’t know about. Sometimes being out shopping means you’ll actually purchase more.”

Meyer said people appear to be more selective in what they buy, but he said one bed-and-breakfast establishment reported its best year ever.

“Some places appear to be doing very well and some are a little flat,” Meyer said.

“Everybody seems to be in a little bit of a ‘wait and see’ attitude, but I expect it will be busy this weekend.”

John Cooper, a Watauga County commissioner and owner of the Mast General Store chain, said overall his eight-store company had increases of about 1 percent this holiday season, while the three stores in the High Country had holiday sales levels about the same as last year’s.

“November was down a little but, overall, I’m very pleased with the way it’s going, considering the economy overall,” Cooper said.

Hanes Boren, owner of Footsloggers in Boone and Blowing Rock, said the recession was affecting everyone, even if they weren’t eager to admit it. “Our sales are not what they were last year,” he said. “I think we had 14 straight years of increases from Christmas and we’re 37 years old, but also the biggest days are still ahead of us.”

Boren also believes there could be a late surge as people gain optimism from a change in presidential administrations.

“I see people looking more for value, and I think that’s good,” Boren said. “They’re looking for quality and they’re looking for value, and that’s good for us. For us, it’s primarily outerwear and footwear.”

Boren believes there has been a slight shift in social consciousness this year as well. “I think it’s fair to say we’re obviously a very consuming society and it outpaced our income,” he said. “It probably makes sense for some people to slow down a little bit. We see a lot of interest in many of our recycled products.”

Hanes said businesses could have more gross sales if they lowered prices, but with rising overhead and transportation costs, the bottom line would not be much different. “If somebody is equal to the numbers that they had in 2007, it’s at the expense of their (profit) margin,” Boren said.

According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales for November decreased 2 percent from 2007 levels, with a late Thanksgiving weekend attributed to a missed opportunity for strong sales. Month-to-month sales saw the first increase in four months, however, with November retail sales up six-tenths of a percent over October.

The merchandising industry fared better than other retail sectors. November retail sales released Dec. 12 by the U.S. Commerce Department show total retail sales, which include non-general merchandise categories such as autos, gasoline stations and restaurants, decreased 9 percent over last year and dropped 1.8 percent seasonally adjusted from October.

Electronics and appliance stores sales increased 2.8 percent from October but decreased 5.4 percent from last November. Clothing and clothing accessories stores sales increased 0.8 percent from the previous month but fell 7.4 percent from November 2007.

Health and personal-care stores sales and general merchandise stores had sales increases over last year’s of about 1 percent. The National Retail Federation, which is the world’s largest retail trade association, forecast an overall holiday sales growth of 2.2 percent. Because of a shorter window this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, retailers are counting on December to make up a significant portion of the year’s sales.