FRIDAY WEATHER GIVES WAY TO SUNSHINE THAT BRINGS OUT SHOPPERS

A cold, drizzling rain slowed the rush of post-Thanksgiving shoppers early Friday. But once the sun popped out at mid-morning, anxious shoppers, loaded with lists and advertising circulars, started hitting the stores in Cape Girardeau.

Retail stores throughout the city were swamped by bargain hunters, window shoppers and others wanting to get a jump on holiday shopping.

"It was a little slower than usual, but we had some shoppers when we opened the doors at 8 a.m.," said Tony Stephens, West Park Mall manager. "By the time the sun came out, we were almost full, and by mid-afternoon, our parking spaces were maxed-out."

The mall parking areas can accommodate about 3,400 vehicles, noted Stephens.

Terry Godwin, manager of the Wal-Mart Supercenter on the west side of Interstate 55, said there wasn't the usual onslaught of customers early Friday, but the traffic was at its normal pace later in the day.

"We had great traffic downtown," said Mike Pind, manager at Chrisman Art Mart, 38 N. Main. "People were in here all day."

Diann Newell reported good traffic at Hansel & Gretel in the Town Plaza Shopping Center. "Things started out pretty slow because of the bad weather," said Newell. "But we wound up with a good crowd from as far away as Murphysboro, Ill., and Paducah, Ky."

The traditional start of the Christmas holiday season attracted shoppers from a wide area.

Steve Green and his wife, Leila, made the trip from Blytheville, Ark.

Green, who found one of the few empty benches near West Park Mall's Center Court, had purchased only two magazines after four hours in the mall.

"I'm waiting for my wife to do the Christmas shopping," he said. "I bought the magazines to read."

The Greens, originally from this area, moved to Blytheville three years ago.

"We don't have a mall at Blytheville. Most of the people there go to Memphis shopping malls," he said. "But we visit friends and relatives here, so we always start our holiday shopping in Cape Girardeau."

Eddie Smith and his family had driven from Cairo, Ill.

"We hit the downtown and Broadway areas and wound up at the mall," he said.

Smith and his 10-year-old son, Matt, were waiting for the rest of the family. "The girls are into serious Christmas shopping," said Smith, in reference to his wife Betty and 12-year-old daughter Jordan.

"I don't think the weather hurt anything," said a shopper leaving Sears with an arm load of packages. "That parking lot out there is pretty full."

Other near-full parking lots were those at Toys R Us, Kmart and Hobby Lobby in Cape Girardeau, where shoppers were out in force.

Nationally, analysts have predicted this year's Christmas sales will be better than in 1992. Economists are forecasting increases of 3-6 percent.

The Canadian air mass which started moving into the state Thursday, lowered temperatures and dumped cold, drizzling rain and sleet in some areas late Thursday and early Friday, resulting in nine motor vehicle accidents on Cape Girardeau streets.

The National Weather Service canceled a winter weather advisory for east central and Southeast Missouri Friday morning after a band of snow and sleet, extending from southwest Missouri to St. Louis, weakened and pushed off into Illinois.

The weather service is calling for sunny skies today and Sunday, with a slight chance of snow flurries in the immediate area. Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 20s to upper 30s today and into the upper 30s Sunday.

With only 28 days left before Christmas, the shopping public is expected to bundle up again today and hit the stores as the holiday shopping season continues.

The Christmas Parade of Lights will be held Sunday in Cape Girardeau. The parade will start at 5 p.m. at Capaha Park, proceed down Broadway to Main Street and end at the downtown parking lot across from Hutson Furniture.

By the beginning of the week, skies are expected to be clear to partly cloudy, with highs reaching into the low 40s.