Time to shop some more

Shoppers came out in force yesterday, drawn to Richmond-area malls by the promise of deep discounts from retailers looking to make up for less-than-jolly pre-holiday sales.

Much like the week leading up to Christmas, store windows were plastered with signs for discounts as high as 70 percent.

At Chesterfield Towne Center yesterday afternoon, the mall was packed with customers. The halls, at times, were nearly impassible with the crush of people.

But, like in the days leading up to Christmas at shopping centers across the country, many were carrying few bags.

Laurie Romano of Midlothian said she came to shop, drawn by the sale prices she'd heard about.

"I didn't see anything -- savings or sales -- that wasn't available a couple of days ago before Christmas," she said.

Lorelei and Antoine Bugg of Chesterfield County also were unimpressed by the offerings.

"The only thing we've bought is a pair of boots," Lorelei Bugg said. "But I was going to buy those anyway."

She had seen the boots while shopping earlier in the week, but she waited until yesterday to see whether she could get a better price.

She didn't. The boots were discounted 30 percent both days.

Not everyone was downbeat.

Rita and Maryann Palazzolo said the specials lured them to shop at a time this year when they otherwise would not have gone to the mall.

"We bought the same as we do every year," Rita Palazzolo said of her post-Christmas excursion.

Finishing the year strong is imperative for retailers.

"The last week of December represents about 14 percent of Christmas sales," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of the South Carolina-based America's Research Group, a consumer research firm.

The holiday season typically accounts for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual sales.

Consumers have cut spending because they are concerned about job cuts, investment declines and other economic woes.

Retail sales fell 5.5 percent to 8 percent during the holiday season compared with last year, according to preliminary data from SpendingPulse -- a division of MasterCard Advisors that tracks total sales paid by credit card, checks and cash.

They fell 2 percent to 4 percent excluding auto and gasoline sales.

Online retailers did appear to fare somewhat better, particularly in the last two weeks of the season when storms hit. Online sales dipped 2.3 percent, SpendingPulse said.

Online retailer Amazon.com said yesterday that this holiday period was its "best ever," with more than 6.3 million items ordered on its busiest day of the season, Dec. 15.

At Chesterfield Towne Center, marketing manager Denise Smith said the mall has been busy since the day after Thanksgiving, and retailers said sales have been decent.

Most retailers will report December sales Jan. 8.

To lure shoppers, some retailers liberalized return and exchange policies.

Sandy French of Cumberland County went to the mall to exchange an Aéropostale sweater. French hoped she would get the full, pre-sale price so she could replace it and have enough money left over to buy something else.

"This is the type of deal I can live with," she said on her way to the store.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.