ROGERS — ROGERS - Mary Ann Lattanzio of Rogers was at the Target store at Pinnacle Hills Promenade on Thursday morning, checking out the P.J. Sparkles dolls, a favorite of her daughter, Caroline, 4, who was with her.
The clock was ticking on the final shopping day before Christmas, and the forecast called for 6 to 10 inches of snow overnight.
“We came to get food before the snow and to have a look at the toys,” said Lattanzio, who also took along 7-week-old daughter Julia. “We’re looking at these because they’re on special.”
Nearby, Amy Simpson also was checking out the toys with her son, Caden, 4. She’d shopped at Wal-Martthe previous night, and visited Bath & Body Works as well as Target Thursday morning.
“I just got paid last night,” she said, explaining the lastminute spree.
Simpson wasn’t concerned that Caden would see one of his presents. “He won’t even remember what we got today,” she said.
Across the nation, retailers closed out a Christmas shopping season that, while no record-setter, appears headed for much better results than last year’s freefall.
The National Retail Federation forecasts a 1 percent drop in sales from a year ago, when retailers suffered a 3.4 percent overall decline as the economy sank deeper into recession. By the federation’stally, the 10-year average sales growth in the Christmas season is 3.39 percent.
The International Council of Shopping Centers is a little more optimistic. It forecasts sales in stores open at least a year, a key measure of success in retailing, will rise 1 percent for November and December combined, compared with a 5.6 percent decline last year.
Weather was not the retailers’ friend this Christmas Eve. Northwest Arkansas shoppers were met with cold drizzle much of the day, while central Arkansas shoppers navigated numerous roads closed as a result of heavy rain that caused flooding.
To the north and west, blizzard and winter storm warnings were posted for much of the Plains and upper Midwest. To the south and east, heavy thunderstorms caused flooding and tornado watches in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The foul weather came just days after much of the nation’s eastern seaboard was blanketed with 1 to 2 feet of snow, which kept many people at home instead of shopping.
Still, Chuck Simmons, manager at the Target store in Rogers, gave this year’s Christmas season a thumbsup.
“In a word, fantastic,” he said. “It’s been very smooth for our first Christmas here.” The store opened in March.
“It’s been a strong toy store,” Simmons said. The first shoppers through the door Thursday morning were five men, he said, whereas most shoppers are typically women.
Electronics also have been a big draw, but he said the store gets little profit on bigscreen TVs and game systems. It does better on wall-mountsfor the big TVs and software for the games, he said.
At the Wal-Mart store in south Rogers, the parking lot was packed. Inside, shoppers were heavily concentrated on the grocery side of the store, filling their baskets in advance of the predicted snow.
At the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville, customer traffic was heavy on the final shopping day.
Al Sams of Combs, a community in southern Madison County in the area where former Gov. Orval Faubus grew up, was busy running a stand. He was offering remote-controlled cars for $27.99 and helicopters from $32.99 to $97, making several sales in a 15-minute period.
“This year, I think people are more confident that things are going to smooth out,” Sams said. “It’s been a little better than last year, as far as overall sales.”
Still, he said, sales are not as strong as they have been in past years. When he’s not at the mall in November and December, he sells safety eyewear, and those sales are down 35 percent, he said.
“I think people are doing alot more Wal-Mart shopping,” he said.
At Little Rock’s Park Plaza, it was a man’s world as dozens of men carrying bags from Victoria’s Secret and Coach navigated three levels of sales and discounts meant to entice procrastinators.
Seth Mann started his Christmas shopping at 10:30 a.m. Christmas Eve with a stop at the Coach Store.
“I’ve just been so tied up with work and whatnot, this is just my first opportunity to really get out. I live in Stuttgart, so to make it over here and everything is a task,” he said.
But he went to Park Plaza prepared to do an entire season’s worth of shopping in one day.
“I’m knocking it out,” Mann said.
Bill Martin, a co-founder of ShopperTrak, a Chicagobased firm that analyzes retail foot traffic, said that while stores depend on last-minute sales, Christmas Eve itself is often somewhat quieter than the 23rd, the last full shopping day before Christmas.
“Really all that’s out there is male, indecisive shoppers,” Martin said. “I think history would suggest that they’ll be moderate crowds of men walking around wondering what to do next,” he predicted before Christmas Eve.
But last-minute shopping isn’t always a practical matter. David Wilkes of Little Rock had finished his shopping with time to spare, but saving the stocking stuffers for the last day is a tradition as basic to him as eggnog by the Christmas tree.
“I come out on Christmas Eve and buy little things ... My father used to take me shopping on Christmas Eve, and I did it with my family. It’s just something to do. My kids are grown and gone, so I’m here shopping by myself,” he said.
Business, Pages 24 on 12/25/2009