12/28/2008
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Staff photo by Scott Monroefrom the Kennebec Journal
QUESTIONS REMAIN
No complaints from those who switched to Somerset County center
Vote on 1 may hurt some in election
Steeple at center of debate in Whitefield
VETERANS REQUIRE ASSISTANCE: Homelessness takes center stage
J.P. DEVINE: Overcome sadness with hope
BASKETBALL: NBA Hall of Famer Barry doles out advice at Thomas College
HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY: Maranacook sophomore Mace dominates Class B field
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
A year later, families await answers on fatalities
Owner of topless coffee shop on the comeback trail
Officials report cheaper, better service after switch
Two people in critical condition
Young Marines stick to program
Issue of homeless veterans at center stage
GIRLS SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Winslow falls to York in Class B
Bard hits her marathon stride
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
A mixed stocking, it seems.
In interviews on Saturday, Waterville shop owners were anything but uniform in assessing sales during the last two months. Some reported the worst holiday-season sales in years, some the best, though several said sales were basically flat, compared with last year.
Nationally, some retail observers have described this as one of the worst holiday sales seasons on record.
Shop owners and customers both agreed on a few things: Because of the economic downturn, most people shopped and purchased a lot less, looked for bargains wherever possible, and did their business more so at local stores rather than big retail chains.
Hope Otis of Skowhegan, browsing the clearance section at Marden's Surplus and Salvage store off Kennedy Memorial Drive on Saturday, said, "There were just not that many shoppers. I shopped less, definitely less."
Amparo Hutchison, assistant manager at Marden's, said the store did about as well as last season, though a push for store gift cards -- totaling almost $12,000 in sales -- "took off" and helped the store avoid losses. Clothing sales were strong, Hutchison said, but there was a noticeable dip in interest for bigger items such as furniture and carpets.
"I think people were looking for practical things," Hutchison said. And, in 2009, "I really think it's going to be about the same. I know people will still be looking for bargains."
Nationally, holiday retail sales were down over the year-earlier period by 5.5 percent in November and 8 percent in December through Christmas Eve, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit, which tracks consumer spending. Much of that decline includes a nosedive in gasoline sales, according to SpendingPulse.
The Fashion Bug clothing store at Elm Plaza has felt the sting of a sour economy. Store Manager Tina Boag said store sales were down 40 percent compared with last year from the day after Thanksgiving, "Black Friday," until this weekend.
"We had a great Black Friday, but I've been here eight years and it's probably the slowest I've ever seen it," Boag said. The day after Christmas "was super busy, and not with returns." Most shoppers at Fashion Bug in Waterville "went right to the clearance stuff," she added.
A stone's throw away at Elm Plaza, the G.M. Pollack & Sons jewelry store reported steady holiday sales that "came later, but they still came."
"Probably from mid-December on, things for us were great," said Jonathan Condon, assistant manager.
Still, the jewelry store had to work to bring in customers. Most years its products are not put on sale before Christmas because "the price is the price and people are coming anyway," but this year the store for the first time slashed all of its prices in half during the last month.
"That made a huge difference," Condon said. "If we didn't, it would have been harder" to make sales.
During the last two years, customers have been "spending less, and smarter," said Michael Giroux, owner of Berry's Stationers art supplies and framing store on Main Street.
"People are looking for, say, a $50 frame instead of $100," Giroux said. In the coming year, "I think it will improve, over time, as fuel prices go down. If everyone made it through Christmas, it should be OK."
Bull Moose Music, also in the Elm Plaza, had "one of its best" holiday sale periods ever, said Store Manager Todd Maheu. The reason, he thinks, is the store offered lower prices than the retail chains -- a typical video game at Bull Moose, for instance, goes for $55 instead of $59 or more, he said.
"I really think people are shopping a little more local," Maheu said.
Lisette Beaulieu of Winslow, shopping at Maine Made & More on Main Street, said she and other shoppers have looked for the best sales these last few months and that is likely to continue into the New Year.
"I didn't buy as much," she said, because of a tighter budget. "I tried to buy on sale."
Scott Monroe -- 861-9253, 487-3288
smonroe@centralmaine.com
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