Retailers offered major discounts and longer hours Wednesday in an attempt to lure shoppers back to the stores for post-holiday sales — and to save the lackluster Christmas shopping season.
But at Westfield Montgomery mall in Bethesda, traffic was a bit light for one of the biggest bargain days of the year, when many stores advertised sales of 50 or 60 percent off in their display windows.
“It’s less crowded than last year,” said Tony Cox, 50, of Bethesda. Cox, who arrived about 3 1/2 hours after the mall opened at 7 a.m., said he was surprised he found a parking space. Although parking spaces were full in front of department stores, finding a slot in the garages wasn’t a problem.
Wetzel Campbell, 54, of Hyattstown, arrived at noon and found a parking spot easily. He wasn’t going to shop, but was accompanying his daughter and son. “I carry the money,” he quipped.
Retailers are hoping shoppers will cash in the gift cards they received, and then some.
The International Council of Shopping Centers is forecasting that sales for stores open at least a year will be slightly below a predicted 2.5 percent increase. But post-holiday sales and gift-card spending could “restore that softness in our expectation,” said Michael P. Niemira, the group’s chief economist and director of research.
Cox said he exceeded his gift-card amounts slightly after buying clothes at Nordstrom. He was able to find a decent selection of items that was “not picked through yet,” he said.
Other shoppers are waiting to spend their gift cards. Edith Calayag, 52, and her daughter-in-law, Tess Aguilo, 33, both of Rockville, planned to shop at Macy’s with coupons they brought, but they were going to wait to spend their gift cards. The two hope to get the best value out of them, Calayag said.
Retailers acknowledge they’re less confident this season, but there is still time for some improvement.
“Sales have been a little off track” this year, said Tariq Abdullah, manager of the Leather Store. “I saw a lot of people with less shopping bags.”
In previous years, the Christmas rush started two to three weeks before Christmas, but this year, the shoppers hit the malls only three or four days in advance.
But those shoppers, when they finally arrived, helped pick up the slack, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which monitors store sales.
Ring it up
According to ShopperTrak:
» Sales rose 33.1 percent from the second-to-last week before Christmas to the last week.
» Sales from Friday through Sunday increased 18.7 percent from a year earlier.
» Consumers spent about $9.36 billion Saturday, an increase of 7.6 percent from the Saturday before Christmas in 2006.
