Local shoppers attack sales with gift cards
Gilroy – Anna Leija and her 4-year-old daughter Arianna cruised the aisles at Target looking for red-and-white sale signs directing them on their after-Christmas gift card raid.
“Gift cards were a big thing this year,” Leija said. “We got them in stockings or as presents. Family [members] who live far away sent us some.”
Consumers are expected to spend $24.81 billion on gift cards this holiday season, up from $18.48 billion in the year-ago period, according to BigResearch, which conducted a poll for the National Retail Federation.
“I think this is the most we’ve gotten,” said the 38-year old Leija, who still had three more gift cards to spend before heading home to Hollister.
Stores such as Target opened their doors at 7am and offered 50-percent discounts on Christmas items, and up to 75 percent on other items – hoping to improve their sales this season.
After a stronger-than-expected turnout on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, stores struggled through the first two weeks of December as consumers shopped at a slower-than-usual pace. Stores got a late-buying sales surge in the final days of the pre-Christmas season, but it was not enough to meet holiday sales goals, as mild temperatures throughout most of the country discouraged shoppers from buying winter items.
But this dip in sales is not unusual, said Larry Cope, Director of Gilroy’s Economic Development Corporation.
“From our understanding, [local retailers] had very strong Black Fridays, which really boosted their year; they had a really strong finish that mirrored the national (numbers),” said Cope.
Last-minute shoppers waited purposely until the weekend of Christmas to buy – a national trend, he said.
Research on the use of gift cards creates an interesting impact on sales that favors businesses, even if the cards are not used in the month of December.
“Gift cards sometimes end up delaying some of the dollars. It can take away from the bigger sales days and actually have those sales come in during January, February and March,” Cope said. Those months tend to be some of the slowest months in the year for retailers.
On a larger scale, ShopperTrak reported Sunday that sales nationwide for both Friday and Saturday generated a combined $16.2 billion, with Saturday’s business generating $8.72 billion. But Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, said he expected Saturday’s sales volume to surpass Black Friday’s sales, which posted $8.96 billion.
Nationwide, average weekly sales for December are up 4.3 percent, compared with 2005, short of ShopperTrak’s forecast of a 5-percent holiday sales increase.
But there’s always next year. Just ask Carla Calderon, who started her Christmas shopping early this year.
“I’m here because of the Christmas stuff. You can buy it cheaper and use it next year,” said the Gilroy resident. She bought a snowman cookie jar and a matching baking sheet, which were both half price.
Not everyone was there to take advantage of the sales. Jessica Dominguez, 19, of Morgan Hill, received a pair of earrings from her mother that she was returning.
“I’m just returning these earrings because they’re going to get stuck in my hair,” she said. Earlier she returned a blanket, a sweater and a makeup box at different stores.
“We leave all the tags on the gifts,” said Dominguez, who also received three gift cards this year. No feelings are hurt when items are returned. “My mom has no problem with that,” she added.
Maybe her mom should give her a gift card next year, it would save her daughter time standing in the return line.
Betsy Avelar attends Gavilan College and is an intern for The South Valley Newspapers. Reach her at 847-7216 or ba*****@************ch.com.
