Shops busy Saturday, but Christmas bottom line won't be known for days

West Park Mall was bustling with people Saturday.

"You can tell it's busy," said Amy McAllister of Cape Girardeau. "People are parking all the way back to Taco Bell."

McAllister preferred to wait in the car with her stepdaughter, Sierra Sams, 11, while Sierra's father, Brian, made a quick trip to redeem a gift card at EB Games.

"It was nuts in there -- people were shoulder to shoulder," Brian Sams said when he returned to the car. "But they were fast, so it was OK."

But a packed lot may not translate into holiday cheer for stores.

Holiday sales -- which typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual total -- have been less than jolly. Job cuts, portfolio losses and other economic woes have many Americans pinching pennies. Winter storms kept some would-be shoppers from stores.

According to preliminary data from SpendingPulse, which tracks purchases paid by credit card, checks or cash, this year's retail sales fell between 5.5 percent and 8 percent compared to last year's totals. Excluding auto and gas sales, they fell 2 percent to 4 percent.

More people did appear to shop online, particularly in the last two weeks of the season, when storms hit. Online sales dipped just 2.3 percent, SpendingPulse said.

McAllister said she was one of those online buyers and was particularly pleased with Wal-Mart's online service because "they send your order right to the store. I probably did all my Christmas shopping that way this year."

A fuller indicator of how retailers fared will arrive Jan. 8, when major stores report same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, for December.

The Toys 'R' Us store in Cape Girardeau was busy Saturday, but a corporate spokesman said no sales figures would be available this week.

Many stores are likely to report a loss for the fourth quarter, said Marshal Cohen, a senior retail analyst with NPD, a sales and marketing group.

At West Park Mall, the people who arrived Saturday with bags of merchandise were often planning on exchanging items for cash or a store credit to make a different purchase. A few left empty-handed.

Mark Strickert of Jackson appreciated the knit cap from his stepuncle. But he returned it to American Eagle Outfitters at West Park Mall anyway.

"It's Cape colors, and I'm from Jackson," Strickert said, opening the white gift box to show the orange-and-black cap, into which a white gift card envelope was tucked.

"It's nice because they also gave me the gift card, so I know they want me to have something I like. It's all good," he said.

Jessica Freeman, 25, of Jackson had to exchange the Samsung phone she bought for her mother.

"My mom decided it was too complicated. She just wanted a plain phone without the keyboard," she said.

Twila Brown of Cape Girardeau carried a bag of merchandise into West Park Mall and planned to leave empty-handed. After twice trying to find the perfect hooded sweat shirt for her 11-year-old daughter, she decided to give up.

"I guess they'll credit my account," she said with a shrug.

Roselyn Conrad of Jackson arrived with a bag of three fleece sweat shirts.

"Other relatives gave them to my grandsons. They were kind of guessing the sizes," she said. She said if she could not get the right sizes in matching shirts, she would take a store credit.

Wendy Seabaugh of Jackson received two copies of the book "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." She visited Barnes & Noble with her husband, Garrett, and their son, Jackson, 3, to exchange the duplicate book for the sixth in the popular series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

But the family left with more than they expected, buying books for the toddler that were on sale. Wendy Seabaugh said she hadn't planned on getting her son the books but the prices were marked 50 percent off. The family did not stay long at the mall, they said, because it was so crowded.

Keith Kirk of Washington, D.C., a Fannie Mae database manager visiting family in Sikeston, Mo., arrived at the mall Saturday with three of his sisters and a nephew. He said whenever he is in Southeast Missouri he looks for Arkansas Razorback gear. If he finds it, as he did Saturday, he buys it. He'll return home with a Razorback-emblazoned sweat shirt and some caps. After shopping, he said the family planned to take in a movie.

McAllister said she would wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to venture into the mall, "when you can almost have it all to yourself."

Pat Huber of Jackson joked that her job Saturday was to be a "walking billfold."

She'd arrived at the mall with her daughter and a 17-year-old granddaughter.

"I always give my granddaughter gift cards, and then I take her out for a day of shopping and eating," Huber said. "We had to park in Timbuktu, but we'll be here all day, shopping and eating, then shopping and eating a little more. My granddaughter doesn't have to return a thing, and we have the most marvelous time."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

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