Retailers say morning crowds dwindled after the snowfall started. Take the NEWS POLL.
Instead of clearing their shelves of merchandise that didn’t make it into the carts of shoppers before Christmas, many local retailers spent part of today clearing their storefronts and parking lots of snow.
Forecasts of up to 3 inches of snowfall in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey didn’t seem to deter the post-Christmas deal seekers in the morning, but once the snow actually started accumulating in the afternoon, some local retailers saw a noticeable drop in business.
As predicted, the precipitation had morphed into rain by nightfall in many pockets of the region, but it was too late for some retailers.
Diane Bower, owner of Just Around the Corner on North Bank Street in Downtown Easton, said she normally sees a large turnout the day after Christmas, as people come in with gift certificates or bring in relatives to the store, which sells locally crafted merchandise.
This year, she said, the weather has kept most people away. But there may be other factors as well.
“I’ve heard repeatedly this season that Christmas kind of snuck up on everybody,” Bower said.
The day of the week may have contributed, and difficulties throughout the year, including the recent Superstorm Sandy, may have affected turnout.
“Maybe people are just taking advantage of a nice day off,” Bower said. “Hard to tell.”
Nationally, holiday sales so far this year have been the weakest since 2008, when the nation was in a deep recession. So stores now are depending on the days after Christmas to make up lost ground: The final week of December can account for about 15 percent of the month’s sales, and the day after Christmas is typically one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
The Downtown Bethlehem Association, which serves in part to promote businesses in the Christmas City, said today’s snow didn’t appear to be much of a deterrent, at least in the early part of the day.
“A lot of people actually enjoy when the downtown has snow because they feel it adds to the cheer,” said Kasara McLaughlin, the association’s assistant manager.
By 4 p.m., the Christmas huts on Bethlehem’s Main Street were shuttered. At the Main Street Commons, Girlfriend’s Boutique owner Karan Merkel said business was nowhere near what she had anticipated. Shopping started off strong but as road conditions worsened, business began to drop off after 3 p.m., she said.
“There are still people walking around but not as quite as many as before,” Merkel said. “It’s usually packed.”
She remained optimistic that shoppers stuck at home today will get their shopping in today, and she said overall it’s been a good holiday shopping season for her boutique.
Local mall managers said their shops stayed crowded much of the day despite the weather.
Pam Richetta, the Phillipsburg Mall's general manager and marketing director, said as of shortly before 3 p.m., the crowds had been steady. She noted that today’s mall traffic seemed to be about the same as the day after Christmas last year.
“It’s as though it’s not happening,” she said of the inclement weather.
Over at the Palmer Park Mall, General Manager Brian Molchany said he was noticing a slight drop in mall traffic going into the afternoon, around the time when the heaviest snowfall was occurring in many parts of the region.
“It sort of slowed up a bit, but it’s been busy,” he said.
Staff writers Zach Lindsey, Sara K. Satullo and Tommy Rowan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.