Christmas Day has come and gone. Everybody is done with their Christmas shopping (hopefully), but the crowds in the stores aren't due to slacken much anytime soon, because now is the Post-Christmas shopping season — the time to make returns, take advantage of sales, and spend all those gift cards and cash acquired over the holidays.

The Star talked to businesses here in Meridian to find out how they did over Christmas and how they expect to do during the Post-Christmas season.



Bonita Lakes Mall

Bonita Lakes Mall had good Christmas sales this year, according to Marketing Director Courtney Hall, following the national trend with a lot of last minute shoppers and thus a big increase in traffic and sales in the week leading up to Christmas.

Though they didn't see much traffic Wednesday morning, the mall expects to see the number of shoppers steadily increase in the coming weeks, especially with the sales. Many retailers are having to get rid of their Christmas inventory, including a buy-one get-one free sale at New York & Company and an "Everything for $8.98" sale at the mall's newest store, Steve & Barry's.



Local businesses

All the local businesses The Star spoke to reported either an increase in sales or no change at all from last year and business owners say that their items sold the way they expected.

Some of the hottest selling items this year were: for Rhonda's Connection, the Butler Bag, a compartmentalized hand-bag that was helped on its way to popularity by an Oprah recommendation; for Linda's Fine Jewelery, Journey necklaces and diamond earrings; and for Little Acre Home and Patio Furnishings, plastic mesh garlands were flying off the shelves so quickly that they sold out before Thanksgiving.

Rhonda Poole, owner of Rhonda's connection, said that, while specialty stores like hers have their niche, they are seeing increasing competition from stores that sell things like electronics. "Specialty stores aren't competition from each other," she said, "our competition comes from outside".

Still she reported good sales this season, and said that consumer trends have prompted her to start her Post-Christmas sales earlier in the past few years.

"It's all based on the consumer," she said. "They control what we do."

Rhonda's Connection will be clearing out Christmas inventory this year with an up-to-50 percent off sale.

Linda Long, owner of Linda's Fine Jewelry, said that she has seen an increase in Christmas business this year, and that she expects to see a further increase before the end of the year, with people spending their Christmas cash on jewelry.

Gift cards, she said, are not big there, although they do sell better each year.

To promote their Post-Christmas business, Linda's Fine Jewelry is extending its 10th Anniversary sale to the end of the year.





This Christmas gift cards galore:

When you think of hot selling Christmas items, the first things to come to mind might be the newest video game console or a designer jewelry piece, but one of the hottest selling items this year for all kinds of retailers was gift cards, which are sold more and more every year at stores across the nation.

According to Bonita Lakes Mall Marketing Director Courtney Hall, the mall saw "a ton" of sales of their mall-wide gift cards, which allow card-holders to purchase from any store in the mall that accepts American Express.

The cards, which are powered by AmEx, work just like a credit card as long as they are used in a mall owned by CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. The initial purchase of the cards count as a sale for Bonita Lakes Mall, and the purchases made with the cards count as a sale for the store.

Local retailers saw a lot of sales as well, especially in clothing stores.

"We did sell a lot of (gift cards)," said Rhonda's Connection owner, Rhonda Poole. "Men don't know exactly what to get their wives, and they figure with the gift card they can't go wrong."





By Jennifer Jacob

jjacob@themeridianstar.com



This year business owners nationwide thought they were seeing a slump in Christmastime sales until hordes of last minute shoppers sent sales soaring.

One local business that broke national sales trends this year was Little Acre Home and Patio Furnishings, whose owner, Rita Morsey, said that 2007 saw the biggest selling November ever in their 10 years of business and that sales continued to go up into December.

Most stores in town reported slow traffic Wednesday morning, with many people either working or sleeping in, but Morsey said Little Acre's parking lot was already full at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, even though they didn't open until 8 a.m.

The store, which sells Christmas decorations and has a Christmas tree display, had people calling from as far away as Birmingham, Ala., and Vicksburg to get directions, and as early as August and September to ask about their trees.

The only trend they did seem to follow was the increase in gift certificate sales, which Morsey said were popular with husbands who didn't know exactly what to get their wives.

Plant the Earth Garden Center has a different twist on the Post-Christmas rush: They close.

Owner Liz Moore said she and her husband Neil have a Pre-Christmas sale instead of a Post-Christmas one so that they can relax with their family the week after Christmas. In addition to the extra time off, having their sale early allows them to get rid of all their Christmas merchandise by Christmas Eve. While other stores are still having sales, the Moore's are getting finished taking inventory and enjoying their Christmas, and they say it doesn't hurt sales.

"We had a really good year this year," said Liz, "...the only drawback to being closed is that some customers wish we were open."

Some of those customers are probably recipients of the "ton of gift cards" Plant the Earth sold this year, who will have to wait until the store re-opens its doors in January to spend them.