Holiday shopping offers mixed bag for retailers

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU -- The holiday shopping season has always been busy for retailers, and Dec. 26 has traditionally been one of the top-10 busiest holiday shopping days of the year. Valley businesses had mixed reviews about this year's holiday sales numbers, with the larger retailers faring a bit better.

Nationally, retail sales numbers looked good, overall.

According to a nationwide survey commissioned by the International Council of Shopping Centers, a global trade association of the shopping center industry, one in five consumers definitely planned to shop on the day after Christmas. According to ICSC Research, holiday sales are expected to grow to approximately $230 billion for the combined November and December period -- $20 billion better than 2003.

"The economy has definitely improved over the last year," said ICSC spokesman Malachy Kavanagh. "We're seeing more luxury-good retailers. They've done really well."

Kavanagh said gift card redemptions are partly responsible for the higher sales numbers this year.

According to the National Retail Federation, about 86 million people made a total of 133 million shopping trips over the weekend -- about the number expected, with $22.8 billion spent.

Locally, shoppers poured into the larger retail stores in the days leading up to Christmas.

"Generally we did really well on Christmas decor and Christmas items," said Wal-Mart co-store manager Austin Zimiga. "Electronics and DVDs went really well, as people look forward to all the new technologies that are coming out."

Overall, Zimiga said the Wasilla store had a fairly average holiday season and he expects the store to return to normal this week. The store will still have reduced-price Christmas and toy merchandise, however, and gift card redemptions are also expected to start coming in.

"We see a lot more people using gift cards," Zimiga said. "It's a simple way to get someone a gift when you don't know what to get, and they are reloadable, so a lot of times people will just hang onto them."

Kavanagh said gift

cards actually increase

overall sales.

"This week you'll have people redeeming gift cards and people often trade up and pay full price," he said. "It's unexpected money and people are less likely to be thrifty."

Kavanagh said gift returns typically increase overall sales this time of year because people tend to trade up and get what they really want when returning items.

Overall, gift cards are expected to account for approximately 11 percent of total retail sales -- a 3-percent increase from last year.

There were some local stores that did not fare as well this year, compared to previous holiday seasons.

"Compared to other years, our sales were down," said David Nyberg, owner of All I Saw Cookware. "Unfortunately, the pie is getting smaller. As a community grows, the smaller individual retailers always struggle."

Nyberg has operated out of the Meta-Rose Square for the last 22 years and he said this year has been a challenge.

"Christmas is generally a busy time for us and it was busy this year, but just not as busy," he said.

Nyberg said his store focuses on higher-end merchandise and many specialty items, but many of the same name brands are found at the larger national retailers in town.

"They are the same name, but not necessarily the top of the line, like what we carry," Nyberg said.

For the last six years, Clay Kedzior has managed Alaska Frontier North, a pawn shop in Wasilla that deals in jewelry, guns, games and a host of other items. According to Kedzior, there has been no noticeable increase in business over the holidays.

"Normally we see a boost, but since the larger stores have come in sales have really gone down," he said. "It's been real hard the last two or three years."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.