Fewer shopping days until Christmas

The communication came from the district office weeks ago. This year, the memo said, Thanksgiving is a week later. That means there will be a six fewer days for the holiday shopping season, the most profitable time of the year for many retailers.

"It was direct," said Rick Done, the manager of Cape Girardeau's Target store. "It said we needed to get our ducks in a row. Service has to be good. We need to draw the customers in because we're losing a week's worth of business."

It was a message that was no doubt similar to many others that were sent to remind retailers that there will be only four weeks after Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally is thought to be the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. Normally, there are five weeks after Thanksgiving.

Mixed reactions

The compressed shopping season has caused mixed reactions from retailers. Some are being proactive, offering sales or other incentives earlier than they usually do to draw people into the stores before Turkey Day. Others say they don't expect any difference and that people are still going to have to do Christmas shopping, regardless of the time frame. Some even predict it may be helpful for shoppers to feel a bit rushed.

Even the experts disagree.

"Any time you have a shorter time frame, it impacts you," said Scott Thorne, an instructor at Southeast Missouri State University who teaches retail management. "If they had the extra week, they'd see more sales. There's only so much shopping you can do within a four-week period, so I think it will definitely affect sales."

But Ellen Tolley, a spokeswoman with the National Retail Federation, said retailers don't have anything to hang their heads about this year.

"Our surveys have found that people start their holiday shopping before October anyway," she said. "Most retailers are reacting, by putting out decorations earlier, lowering prices earlier, or even bringing in Santa Claus before Thanksgiving. It's really not that big a deal."

Tolley said her group is predicting a 4 percent increase over last year. Usually, retailers see 4 to 8 percent increases.

With an economy that refuses to rebound and fear about a potential war with Iraq, local retailers said they were expecting to see 2 to 4 percent increases over last year.

So if anything, that's what should have retailers wringing their hands.

"We're not going to have a blockbuster holiday season, but it won't be because of when Thanksgiving is," Tolley said.

Unconcerned shoppers

Some of the shoppers who hit the stores last week said they weren't that concerned about only having four weeks to shop during the traditional shopping season.

"You can shop whenever you want," said Marilyn Schott of Fruitland, Mo. "You don't have to wait until Thanksgiving. But I'm a last-minute shopper. Sometimes I even wait until Christmas Eve, so none of it really matters to me."

Schott said she "might have to be a little bit cheaper" with her spending, however.

"Things have been tight," she said.

Lori Strickland of Cape Girardeau said the shorter season has influenced her.

"Because of that very reason I've started shopping earlier," she said. "I started in October and normally I wait until after Thanksgiving."

But Strickland said a shorter shopping season won't change what she spends.

If those two shoppers are typical, retailers don't have much to worry about, but they're not taking any chances.

"We're doing things just in case," said Sears general manager Jason Harvey. "We've been running some pre-holiday savings, some different specials on things to bring some customers in before the holiday."

But he doesn't believe the shorter season will have a bad effect on Sears.

"People are just going to have less time, but the same number of gifts," he said.

Kmart manager John Willems agreed.

"It will probably put more stress on the consumer than on us," he said.

Famous Barr is having its biggest sale of the season this weekend, which they always do before Thanksgiving. Manager Sharon Ebersohl said it may offset possible losses from a shorter season.

"It's not really a concern," she said. "But it will mean the busiest days are going to be more condensed."

Ebersohl said her store's been more affected by the weather.

"Whenever it's warmer, it slows down a bit," she said. "But we're praying for cold weather. That's going to happen soon."

No easy answers

Downtown is home to several gift shops and jewelers. Chuck McGinty, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, said there are no easy answers.

"There's no magic recipe for picking up the extra sales," said McGinty, who owns McGinty's Jewelers. "Everybody's so different down here. Some people are doing promotions, having sales and things like that. But I can't call it much of a concern down here."

Jim Govro, manager of Westfield Shoppingtown West Park, said the tighter schedule may even help.

"To be honest, I think it's going to be better for us," Govro said. "It's a mental thing. If they have five weeks, they think they have plenty of time, so they never get started early. We're going to get more out en masse if they think they're running out of time."

But whether it's five weeks or four weeks until Christmas, National Retail Federation spokeswoman Tolley said the bottom line is families will do some shopping.

"Nobody's going to tell their kid, 'You're not going to get a present. I had a week less to shop.'"

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137