Sep 9, 2009

Retailers upbeat as sales top projectionsBy Tricia PursellDailyItem.com

Spokesmen for several Valley department stores reported a decrease in sales during the second quarter, when compared to 2008, but said the numbers weren’t as bad as they expected.

They also said the number of shoppers for the back-to-school season increased.

“Traffic is certainly better than last year at this time,” said Geoff Daffier, assistant store manager and spokesman for the Boscov’s department store at the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Hummels Wharf. “Our inventory levels are good.”

This year, the store published several coupons for school-related items and touted a promotion that allowed people to earn a gift card if they spent a certain amount at the store.

Frances Cortez, store manager for JC Penney at the mall, also was upbeat.

“We’re doing better than what the company had planned for our store results,” she said.

She hopes the trend will continue through the end of the year, including the holiday season.

“Our company has planned fairly conservatively,” she said.

According to Lisa Pellicciotta, regional marketing director for PREIT, the managing company for the Susquehanna Valley Mall and Monroe Marketplace in Hummels Wharf, the stores overall have been on par with national results “” experiencing a small decrease in sales from last year, yet not in any danger of closing.

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