RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)—The day after Christmas is usually a bustling day but rainy weather held back some of the usual hordes.
Wednesday, the weather outside was frightful, but shoppers who did venture out found the sales delightful.
“I love shopping in general so,” says Holly McMurtry who was hunting for deals with her mother, Angela. “We’re always on a mission when we shop.”
Retailers were hard at work luring in people by slashing prices.
“It’s getting to be a long day we started out early this morning,” said Joan West, who drove through sleet and rain with her family from Lousia.
The West’s had visions of saving money dancing in their head at Chesterfield Towne Center.
“Everything is like 40 percent, 50 percent off, some of it is 70 percent off. You can’t beat the deals. Come out after Christmas you buy more for your buck,” said her husband.
The 2012 holidays shopping season is not a banner year for many retailers. According to SpendingPulse sales in the two months before Christmas jumped just 0.7 percent compared to last year.
That is below the three to four percent growth many analysts expected.
Thea Paul, from Richmond, spent a little less than in years past, but she is not afraid of opening her wallet after Christmas.
“Absolutely! A lot of 50% off deals,” Thea said. “Based on the economy we tried staying on a budget.”
Inside Mongrel in Carytown the staff says they are bucking the trend of slumping sales. Shoppers in this independent retailer weren’t afraid of spending and the store manager said they had a record-breaking sales.
“We had a fantastic year,” manager Garnett Spigle-Greer said.
Back at Chesterfield Towne Center bargain hunters are spending green while helping stores stay out of the red.
“Sometimes we get a good deal when we don’t even intend to shop and we say here we go again,” Angela McMurtry said.
Post-Christmas can be a boon for stores. Most retailers generate about 15 percent in sales in the final week of December.
According to the folks at Chesterfield Town Center, holiday foot traffic was up this year and a sampling of stores shows that sales at the mall were slightly stronger than 2011.
