Sarasota-area retailers say sales are strong
Retailers across the U.S. are experiencing a typical pause after the rush of Black Friday-inspired sales, but many Florida merchants seem to be reveling in a sustained post-recession uptick this season.
“Our customer traffic has been extremely strong, which has been very encouraging for the season as a whole,” said Sam Davidson, marketing director at Westfield Corp.’s Southgate Mall, in Sarasota.
“Since Black Friday, it’s been steady all the way through this past Sunday,” Davidson said. “We haven’t experienced a lull at all.”
At Westfield’s other Southwest Florida property, Sarasota Square Mall, customer traffic is up roughly 5 percent from this time in 2009, mall officials have told retailers there.
“We expected things to taper somewhat, because we had such a strong Black Friday this year,” said Bob Parker, general manager of the J.C. Penney department store in Sarasota Square.
“But, percentage-wise, we’ve seen strong growth since then,” Parker said. “I attribute it, in part at least, to more snowbird and foreign customer traffic than we’ve had in past years.”