Published Sunday, December 27, 2009

Shoppers going back to stores

The Newnan Times-Herald

Recent East Coweta High School graduate and current Georgia State University freshman Katie Ashley said she planned to "return, return, return" while she's home visiting the day after Christmas. And many other local shoppers had similar plans.

Shoppers could get in line earlier than previous years. JCPenney announced that its stores would open at 5 a.m. -- the earliest opening on the day after Christmas in store history. Target followed close behind, with a 7 a.m. opening.

Last year, Dec. 26 was the second- busiest holiday shopping day next to Black Friday, according to ShopperTrak, which analyzes sales and traffic at more than 50,000 outlets.

Typically, the Saturday before Christmas earns that second-place designation.

Even so, the council's Rebecca Marion Flach acknowledged Dec. 26 is "critical" to merchants.

"It's big. There's a lot of people going back to the store who received gift cards or cash or have returns to make," she told the Associated Press.

Mark Schock, who teaches at Madras Middle School, said that spending gift cards will be a big part of the "Day After Christmas" activity at his household this year.

"We're giving gift cards, because this year has been extremely busy for us," said Schock. "Combine that with a shorter 'Santa' list, and gift cards were the way to go. They took the guesswork out of shopping."

With teenage daughters at home, gift cards make a lot of sense, he said.

"Since my daughters really didn't have a wish list, I figured it'd be best to let them decide," he said. "Plus they can get better deals the day after.

"Gift cards also helped me to stay within a budget, which was noticeably smaller thanks to the recession, and furloughs. My daughters are no longer small kids so buying lots of toys, like we used to do, is out."

Schock said that this year was "the first time ever" that he was forced to scale down his Christmas shopping.

"That's due mostly to a sluggish economy," he said, but "this is the only year, that I recall, when my children weren't asking Santa to make a big purchase. We seem to have everything we need/want ... Our focus is on what really counts, not materialism."

Mark Nations, a Senoia native visiting family members in Germany, said that he may be forced to do a lot of shopping after Christmas because of a string of unfortunate and unexpected circumstances that left him stranded in the snow in Munich.

"It looks like my Christmas shopping will HAVE to take place the day after," he said. "I've been stuck in Germany for a week, just trying to get out. Being the typical male, I had planned to do my shopping this week. But many items don't transfer well from Germany to the U.S. And the wine and beer I was bringing back as gifts is disappearing each day. There may be none left!"

Black Friday retail sales this year totaled $10.66 billion -- a half percent increase over Black Friday 2008, while foot traffic declined by 1.1 percent, ShopperTrak reported. Some local retailers are reporting that sales are actually up this year.

Merchants' fourth-quarter profits should be intact because they didn't have to cut prices more than they'd planned as they were cushioned by lean inventories. The full picture won't be known until major merchants, including JCPenney and Target, report their monthly sales Jan. 7.

ShopperTrak, which tracks total sales and traffic at more than 50,000 outlets, is sticking to its prediction for a 1.6 percent gain, compared with a 5.9 percent drop a year ago.

The National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade group, expects that total retail sales will slip 1 percent, though some experts say that might be a a bit too cautious. A year ago, they fell 3.4 percent, by the trade group's calculations.

The International Council of Shopping Centers forecasts that sales at stores open at least a year will be up 1 percent, compared with a 5.8 percent drop a year ago.

Some locals refuse to become a part of the sales statistics. They will be hunkering down and staying home the day after Christmas.

"People that shop the day after Christmas (and the day after Thanksgiving) just (tick) off the rest of us!" said Laurel Alford.