A scramble for deals, sales

A scramble for deals, sales
Stores try to make up for tough holiday with post-Christmas binges
By Sheila G. Miller / The Bulletin
December 27. 2008

Macy's Discount Coupon

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Brenda Rantala and her mother, Shirley Chilton, had a shopping plan Friday morning.

They started out at Macy’s at 7 a.m., then headed to The Old Mill District to check out deals at Gap, J. Jill and REI.

Their plan paid off. They loaded up on shoes, boots, sweaters and shirts for themselves and their family.

The best find? Long sweaters for $14.99, 70 percent off, at Macy’s.

“We actually spent less for Christmas because we knew we’d spend more today,” said Rantala, 46.

As retailers across the country tried to lure more customers in with good deals, local stores featured after-Christmas sales and posted signs detailing their discounts.

Nationally, retail sales are down between 5.5 and 8 percent for November and December, but some stores are hoping for a late surge.

According to SpendingPulse, a MasterCard Advisors division that tracks nationwide spending, there were big drops in clothing and footwear sales during the last two months, when most people typically do their holiday shopping. Sales of women’s clothing dropped more than 22 percent while men’s clothing sales dropped about 14 percent from last year’s holiday season. Footwear sales fell about 13 percent from last year.

That hasn’t stopped some local retailers from trying to get shoppers into their stores.

At REI in The Old Mill District, Manager Anne Powell said things were hectic.

“It’s just the day after Christmas,” she said. “We’re getting lots of exchanges.”

While REI hadn’t made many big discounts to try to entice shoppers, there were still some good deals, Powell said. The store’s holiday clearance sale featured up to 50 percent off on selected items.

Powell wasn’t alone.

At Local Joe’s in downtown Bend, Manager Laura Moore said the store had cut prices and was seeing big crowds.

“We’re having an after-Christmas sale,” she said Friday. “It’s our first time ever.”

Some of the tactics worked. The parking lot for the Bend River Promenade was packed with shoppers headed to Macy’s, which opened at 6 a.m. with early-bird specials and sales all day.

That’s what brought Bend resident Nancy Vietinghoff, 49, to Macy’s on Friday. She had a return to make but decided to brave the crowds because she knew about good savings at the department store.

“There were all sorts of good finds,” Vietinghoff said.

After making her return, then buying a black dress coat and a knife set, she was headed to the car. But she wasn’t finished.

“I’m just going to put this stuff in the car and go back in for more stuff,” she said, laughing.

While shoppers futilely circled the parking lot around Macy’s, other places, like The Old Mill District, were quiet around noon Friday.

Hannah Jenny, 13, bought a sweatshirt and three pairs of jeans on discount at Pac Sun. She and her family, visiting from the Bay Area, said the store was busy.

“The sales are ridiculous,” Lena Jenny, 15, said of Pac Sun.

But she said the sales weren’t universal.

The Jennys had just come from American Eagle Outfitters, which Lena said had a lot of nice clothes but not enough discounts.

“They were like, ‘Oh we’ve got great discounts,’ but it was like, $5,” Lena said. “(At Pac Sun) it’s like 50 percent off.”

Kailin and Nancy Koch had also noticed the sale signs at Pac Sun. Kailin, 15, said she was grabbing a last-minute (and slightly late) Christmas gift for a family friend.

Her mom, Nancy, said the deals were impressive.

“They’re taking big discounts,” she said.