Locally, retailers say they're optimistic
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The front window of Woodbury Mountain Toys in Montpelier illuminates a display of items carried by the store. Kyle Martel/Times Argus |
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By Mel Huff Times Argus Staff - Published: November 24, 2008
MONTPELIER/BARRE – Days before the key Christmas shopping season kicks off, the mood among retailers in central Vermont remains guardedly optimistic, despite dire stories of doom nationally.
A Sunday afternoon survey of a variety of stores found clerks and owners looking forward to a typical holiday season.
Shoppers, some of them husbands scoping out presents for their wives, milled around the Vermont Trading Company Sunday. Scarves hung throughout the store, accompanied by displays of heavy sweaters, moccasins, deerskin gloves, mittens knitted from rainbow-colored yarn and a fur hat.
"We're trying to get the rest of our Christmas ornaments out," said Sara Travis, who works at the store. The store stocks up on velvet for customers who are looking for something to wear to holiday parties, and it buys extra jewelry and scarves because "people tend to purchase jewelry and scarves for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers." They also buy more candles and frames during the holidays. But, Travis added, "I can't think of anything that's different from other years."
She said it's hard for anyone to have a sense of what holiday sales will be like, given the state of the economy.
"We haven't really noticed any big changes up until now. Every year is different. Every year there is a panic. We have a very deep 'fan base' of locals that are loyal to us," she said, "and we hope that they stick with that this year."
Down the street at Woodbury Mountain Toys, display racks bulge with Matchbox Cars, Hot Wheels and batmobiles, glow-in-the-dark fish, foam swords for dragon-slaying, dinosaurs with movable legs and jaws, puppets and juggling pins. Amy Newman said the owner has been getting in a lot of stock "to make sure that people have choices."
She noted, however, that people aren't buying as freely as they have in the past: "You can tell when people are talking – it's like 'We can't really do that' – people having to make different choices and scaling it down a bit."
As she was talking, Brandi Waller, her coworker, came back from a late lunch. "Our plan is to do it like every other year," Waller said of preparations for the holiday season. She observed that parents are buying science sets, games and LEGO toys. "Definitely, Bakugan is pretty big, and Pokemon. Playmobil is definitely big," she said. "Everything is going pretty well and we're looking forward to hopefully a good season…"
Josh Turner was standing in the window of Capital Kitchen, arranging articles that his wife, Jessica, was handing to him. Since they started their business in May, they have never opened on Sunday, but they were amazed at the number of people that had tried to come in the store while they were decorating. They decided to stay open on Sundays through Christmas, and are going to have sales on "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.
Based on past demand, they expect to sell a lot of Bodum French coffee presses as gifts. "What we're really promoting for the Christmas season are 'green' ideas – all environmentally friendly choices you can make for your kitchen, things made of bamboo, which is renewable, compost pails, cutting boards made of recycled cardboard, Scanpan, which is a brand of skillet that is not Teflon but it's nonstick." The Danish company uses environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, she said.
The owners have laid in a big supply of the popular Emile Henry pottery. Unlike glazed pottery from China, people can be sure that the pottery is lead-free because it is manufactured in France, Turner explained.
"I love using it," she said. "It's beautiful, but it's really tough. That glaze is pretty chip-resistant. If you make a casserole in one of the baking dishes, you can put it in the freezer and then you can take it from the freezer and put it directly into the oven. A lot of pottery can't stand that abrupt change in temperature." The pottery can also be used under a broiler.
Turner is optimistic about the holiday shopping season. "We've been going strong since the day that we opened, so we're hopeful that Christmas is even better. A lot of people have been in with notebooks and lists, scoping things out, either to put on their wish lists or that they have in mind to buy for other people, so that's encouraging," she said.
Onion River Sports had its pre-season ski sale last weekend, so it is not making special plans for Black Friday, said staffer Kerry Smith. She noted the store has a good supply of water bottles and Black Diamond headlamps, both of which are popular as Christmas gifts.
Chris McDonald, the manager of Bear Pond Books, says business has been "pretty good," and added that while many people are nervous about the upcoming holiday season, "We kind of anticipate a good one."
He said holiday sales follow the same pattern every year – lots of calendars and new fiction.
Books by local writers also sell well, he said, pulling down a copy of Bill Schubart's "The Lamoille Stories." A new history of Montpelier – "Montpelier: Images of Vermont's Capital City" – is the only book on Montpelier currently in print, he noted. The book, illustrated with archival photographs of the city, is a collaboration by Paul Carnahan, executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, and Bill Fish.
Montpelier author Ann Armbrecht has written a memoir, "Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home," he said, and David Macaulay has illustrated a new book, "The Way We Work," that shows how the human body works.
In Barre, Lenny's Shoe and Apparel is doing something different this holiday season, said Katy Kennedy. The store will be offering a 20 percent discount on all but 15 or 20 items, starting Black Friday and continuing through Saturday and Sunday.
"We noticed business last year was booming from Black Friday, so we thought we would do the discount this year. We hope to bring in more people with the discount," she said. "People are definitely coming in more on the weekends when we have sales." Shoppers "are watching their dimes," she observed.
This year for the first time, Lenny's is carrying North Face clothing, which has proved popular. UGG boots are a big hit, and the store has stocked a wide range of sizes. People are buying more necessities than luxury goods, and more children's items than items for adults, Kennedy observed, "But you'd be surprised. People are still buying Christmas gifts, even when there isn't a sale."
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