Holiday shoppers gave retailers a modest boost in sales in the last months of 2009.
Debbie Baillie, owner of Rowdy Rascals Toy Store in Snohomish, reports her sales were up from 2008. Baillie added a staff member late last year, contrary to news of other businesses in Snohomish shutting down.
Debbie Baillie (right) co-owns Rowdy Rascals Toy Store in Snohomish. (Herald photo)
“Best Christmas ever,” said Baillie, who opened the store with her sister in 2007.
She noticed customers shopping earlier this year. Some shopped for Christmas presents throughout 2009, she said.
“I think a lot more people wanted to shop local and support the small businesses, and I think a lot of people didn’t want to risk another snow-laden Christmas,” she said.
At the Everett Mall, sales of gift cards doubled over 2008, Julie Tennyson, the mall’s marketing director said in late December. Like many retailers, the mall offered plenty of promotions, giving gift card buyers a bonus card of a “mystery” amount as an incentive.
Seattle-based Nordstrom reported a 7.4 percent increase in same-store sales for the five-week period ended Jan. 2, 2010, compared with the five-week period ended Jan. 3, 2009. Preliminary total retail sales of $1.25 billion for December 2009 show an increase of 10.8 percent compared with total retail sales of $1.13 billion for the same period in 2008.
However, Nordstrom, like retailers across the nation, experienced a decline for sales for the full year. Nordstrom saw about an estimated 5.1 percent drop in same-store sales in 2009 compared with 2008.
Read more about how local retailers did in December by clicking here.
Know a small business you think we should write about? Contact Herald writer Amy Rolph at arolph@heraldnet.com.
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