Northwest Arkansas Retailers Resume Holiday Hours

STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES 
Jessica Buckles, cashier at Academy Sports, assists a customer Tuesday in Rogers.

STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES Jessica Buckles, cashier at Academy Sports, assists a customer Tuesday in Rogers.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Snow, ice and cold temperatures didn’t keep Amy Maxwell from completing most of her Christmas shopping last weekend.

The Siloam Springs woman said she shopped across the region. She was wrapping up a shopping trip to Rogers on Tuesday afternoon at Academy Sports & Outdoors.

“If you drive slow you can get around,” she said. “Weather will not slow me down.”

Many area businesses closed early Thursday and didn’t open Friday as snow and ice blanketed the area. Most businesses opened Saturday.

“People are pretty resilient, and they will find a way to shop if they want to,” said Larry Ness, store manager at the Rogers Academy store.

Ness compared last weekend’s shopping to that of a normal weekend, but said it fell short of a normal December weekend.

At A Glance

When People Shop

Though many shoppers wait until the last minute to finish holiday shopping, about 40 percent of people start before Halloween each year. Below is a breakdown of when people reported doing their holiday shopping in 2012:

Before September: 12 percent

September: 7 percent

October: 22 percent

November: 39 percent

First 2 weeks of December: 16 percent

Last 2 weeks of December: 3.5 percent

Source: National Retail Federation

The National Retail Federation estimates 20 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales come from sales during the holiday shopping season, which kicks off on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. The federation predicts sales will reach $602 billion this holiday season, up 3.9 percent from last year.

Area retailers already faced a shortened holiday shopping season before winter weather hit. Thanksgiving fell on the last possible day on the calendar this year, cutting almost a week off of the shopping season. The last time Christmas shopping was cut this short was 2002.

Ness said the severe winter weather would have had a much greater impact on sales if it hit closer to Christmas. Shoppers have two more weekends to hit stores before the holiday.

Tiffany Norwood is in the midst of her first Christmas season at her downtown Bentonville business, Bleachers. She closed early Thursday and all day Friday, but opened Saturday. Norwood opened her sports apparel and fan gear shop on the Bentonville square June 4. The store also sells Bentonville souvenirs.

“I’m shocked people are out as much as they are,” she said Tuesday morning. “I think this whole week will be busy, and we’ll make up any sales we lost when we had to close.”

Both of the area’s largest shopping malls reported normal weekend shopping Saturday and Sunday, but said stores were busier than normal Monday and Tuesday.

“I think this weekend is going to be crazy,” said Brenda Majors, marketing manager of Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers. “Let's just hope it doesn’t snow, but if it does we are ready.”

The National Weather Service predicts a 70 percent change of freezing rain Friday and a 30 percent chance of rain, snow and sleet Saturday.

Majors said the mall opened Saturday and a handful of shoppers ventured in.

Rhonda Bramell, marketing manager at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville, said the mall closed early Thursday and Friday but planned to stay open as long as possible.

“We were expecting power outages and worse weather than what we got. We wanted to be open so people could come and warm up if they lost heat,” she said. She said stores weren’t reporting normal holiday sales, but she expects it to rebound this week.

“Mondays are typically a slow day for us and (Monday) I was out in the food court at 3 p.m. at it was packed,” she said. “I think everyone wants to get out of the house.”

Donna and Joe Parker said they had been stuck in their Springdale home since Thursday and a trip to the Fayetteville mall gave them an excuse to get out. Joe Parker said they have almost all their Christmas shopping done.

“We’re going to look around the mall and see if we missed any gifts,” Parker said. “It’s good to be out of the house.”