Despite the current economic downturn, some Evanston retailers say they remain optimistic about the holiday shopping season
Lines at the mall grow longer and longer from late November to late December, a traditionally important time for retail sales, said Greg M. Key, an economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The importance of the last two months of the year to stores is shown in the GAFO, an economic indicator whose acronym stands for “General merchandise, Apparel, Furniture and Office supplies.” In 2000, the GAFO totaled $83.2 billion in November and $117.9 billion in December.
“Sales at stores selling department store merchandise in November and December is a little less than a quarter of the total,” Key said.
Several local Evanston retailers testified as to how important the next few weeks are to their businesses.
“Most companies generate 40 percent of their profits during this shopping season,” said Jim Gernady, manager of Radio Shack’s Evanston location, 716 Church St.
Despite the current economic recession, Gernady said he still expects his Radio Shack store to do better than it did last year. A combination of advertising effectively for products that consumers want and hot items such as DVDs, portable CD players, cell phones and radio-controlled cars should greatly contribute to sales, he said.
“We have had success from previous years,” said Gernady. “We hope this momentum continues running.”
Barnes and Noble, another Evanston retailer, also is counting on a strong sales performance to finish the year, banking on the success of the “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” movie and others with commercial tie-ins.
“Evanston is quite a literate town, so I expect we will perform strongly,” said Sabrena Lewis, community relations manager at Barnes and Noble in Evanston, 1701 Sherman Ave.
Twon Watson, manager of the Foot Locker at 1705 Sherman Ave., said he hopes his sales would increase by 30 percent this shopping season despite the economic downturn. He hopes that his store’s “buy-one-get-one-half-off” offer will attract more customers to purchase athletic shoes. Moreover, he expects fleece and any Michael Jordan merchandise to contribute greatly to sales.
“Things are picking up,” he said.
But Watson also hinted that his store, being stuck between shopping centers Old Orchard and Lincolnwood, might not be able to capitalize on the holiday rush as much as retailers in better locations.
“It’s hard being between two malls,” Watson said.