Stores busy in run-up to holiday

For the Whitworths of Jackson, procrastination is holiday tradition.

"We always wait till the last minute. We like doing it that way -- it seems like everybody's a little more in the holiday spirit," said April Whitworth during a break from shopping Saturday at West Park Mall, her first real day of Christmas shopping this year.

Whitworth was one of the glut of shoppers crowded into the mall Saturday. But the crowded store aisles don't bother her. In a way she relishes it. Whitworth, husband David, 7-year-old Landon and 14-month-old Logan all make a family trip out of shopping, even bringing the grandparents along.

"I just figure everybody's here for the same reason, and that's part of the holiday spirit," Whitworth said, smiling.

Every year Christmas shoppers pour into Cape Girardeau from the surrounding area. And as Christmas grows closer, their numbers grow, too.

No one keeps track of just how many there are, but their numbers are definitely large. On Friday night and Saturday, Cape Girardeau's west side, the key retail shopping area, was packed with people.

Waits for tables at restaurants ranged from 20 to 45 minutes. The drive time from one west side store to another multiplied.

And next weekend is likely to be even busier. Traditionally the weekend just before Christmas is the busiest shopping weekend of the year, according to retail industry sources like the National Retail Federation.

The shoppers have at least one thing in common -- all of them are pumping money into the local economy.

During the busy Christmas retail season, Cape Girardeau becomes a regional shopping center, a place where people from small towns in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois travel to find the items on their friends' and families' wish lists.

Josh and Bridgett Palmer live about 60 miles south of Cape Girardeau in Portageville, Mo. There's not much shopping in the agricultural bottomlands of the Bootheel, so they have to make the hourlong drive to Cape Girardeau.

The same is true for Pam and Dwayne Lape of Dexter, who came to the mall to browse electronics and clothing.

Weather reports Friday predicted the possibility of icy weather, but Cape Girardeau and areas south had rain and temperatures just above freezing, conditions that didn't prevent late-season shoppers from turning out.

"When the weather's bad, that's the time to shop," Dwayne Lape said. "There's not so many out."

Local and national stores aren't sure yet what the economic effect of this Christmas shopping season will be. Nationally retailers count on holiday sales to turn a profit, but this year organizations like the National Retail Federation are forecasting less sales growth than in recent years.

The federation predicts shoppers this season will spend $474.5 billion nationwide on holiday shopping, a rise of 4 percent from last year. That's the slowest holiday sales growth since the 1.3 percent logged in 2002.

The Palmers will spend less this year, trying to stretch their dollars after Josh was laid off from his job.

But online sales are up 18 percent over last year as of Dec. 9, according to e-commerce tracker comScore Inc.

The holiday sales boom is not only important to retailers but to local governments, who count on the sales taxes generated by holiday sales.

Cape Girardeau County and city governments don't track holiday sales apart from other sales-tax revenue, but there's a clear spike in March sales tax receipts due to the Christmas season.

Local government officials said they're confident that, even with the gloomy economic news of recent months, local consumers are still spending this Christmas.

"We've heard that the stores have been very busy and the mall was very busy," said Cape Girardeau city manager Doug Leslie. "It's always a matter of having to wait and see. Some people time their shopping differently."

Cape Girardeau County Auditor David Ludwig said the true effects of holiday shopping won't be known for some time, but he's also confident consumers will still spend plenty this year.

"I think people are optimistic and ready to spend," Ludwig said, citing the traffic local stores are seeing this holiday season.

Many local shoppers say they have no plans to spend less this year, even if it means some other sacrifices.

"We always indulge the kids, of course, and if there's anything lacking it's going to be with us, so the kids are never going to suffer for it," April Whitworth said.

Staff writer Peg McNichol contributed to this report.

msanders@semissourian.com

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