Pier 1 Imports on HK Dodgen Loop in Temple advertises up to 50 percent off with red, white and blue banners in their store windows. In early afternoon, shoppers lined up, keeping two cashiers busy.
“Brisk,” is how manager April Fripp described business. “If it keeps going, that’s the test,” she said, busily wrapping stemware with tissue paper. “So, we’re hoping it continues.”
Friday afternoon, the parking lot at Temple Mall was almost full. Although some folks were returning gifts and others were there to catch a movie, marketing director Lisa Perez said overall mall traffic was heavy.
“We’ve been consistently very busy,” Ms. Perez said. “Customers are out looking for a deal.”
One of those customers, Bobbi Kral of Temple, sat down to rest near a large potted poinsettia. With several bags hanging from her hands, she said things were busy everywhere she went.
“I’ve seen people spend, spend, spend,” Ms. Kral said. “Everywhere it’s very crowded . . . lines at registers, and that’s not just returns. People are buying.”
Ms. Kral said she had shopped until her feet hurt. So she picked up a new pair of Nikes, which she now wore.
Banners and signs throughout the mall announced sales ranging from 40-70 percent discounts. Store managers said after strong sales on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - business lagged until about two weeks before Christmas.
Ms. Perez said sales at the mall likely suffered during that period because bad national economic news has consumers holding back spending, and a few strong cold fronts that blew in during mid-December may have kept folks at home.
Although Temple Mall’s parking lot was brimming with shoppers and their vehicles Friday afternoon, parking spots were easy to find over at Bird Creek Shopping Center. The longest line inside the Target store was one for people returning merchandise.
But on the center’s east end, Best Buy manager Andrew Zalkovsky said the store was busy. And it wasn’t just exchanging presents. He said good deals were the key.
“Almost everything in the store’s on sale . . . iPods, TVs, computers,” Zalkovsky said.
Although Temple retailers appeared to have a healthy shopping season, the national economy has had a local effect this year.
Temple Mall lost clothing retailer Steve & Barry’s last September and Circuit City on South 31st Street is now closed.
In the British Commonwealth, Dec. 26 is called Boxing Day because of a tradition of giving gifts, or boxes, to the less fortunate members of society on the day after Christmas. In the United States - as well as in the Commonwealth countries - it’s a big shopping day, almost as important to retailers as Black Friday.
