Dec 27, 2010

Shoppers take advantage of post-Christmas salesBy Cathy KellySantaCruzSentinel.com

Santa Cruz — The crowds rolled back into stores Sunday, the gift cards, Christmas cash and to-be-swapped gifts burning holes in their pockets.

Capitola Mall was swamped with shoppers after a one-day lull, and most stores had huge sales signs in their windows proclaiming discounts of 50 percent or more. Checkout lines formed inside the big retailers.

At Kohl’s, the doors swung open at 5 a.m.

“It’s absolutely a big day; we’re having a clearance blitz,” Manager Colin Johnstone said. “People are in getting deals and using the gift cards and cash they got for Christmas.”

Kohl’s moved in to the mall just 14 months ago, and Johnstone said they have met their sales goal.

“We’re pretty excited about where we are,” he said.

Retailers nationwide were reporting similar holiday sales satisfaction, and predictions call for a retail revenue increase of 3 to 4 percent for the season, the best percentage jump since 2006.

The period of Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 makes up less than 10 percent of the Nov 1 to Dec. 31 season, but accounts for more than 15 percent of holiday spending, research firm ShopperTrak says.

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