Jan 17, 2014

The Buzz: Retailers Report Holiday SalesBy Maureen WallenfangPostCrescent.com

Fox Cities, WI – Retailers around the country began reporting their Christmas results last week, ranging from a disappointing dip — Best Buy’s stores were down almost 1 percent, for example — to a modest rise in sales. Overall, the season rose 3.8 percent including online sales, the National Retail Federation reported.

Fox Cities stores fell somewhere in the middle, with sales roughly the same as last year. Given the shorter season and brutal weather, store owners said that’s not bad.

At Eco Candle Co. in downtown Appleton, owner Shelley Nystrom saw her online and wholesale numbers jump, but retail sales in her shop were even with last year. That surprised her because it had had consistent increases every prior year.

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