Light snow, heavy shopping
Stephanie Anderson, left, her aunt, Chiquita Pearson, and Pearson’s daughter, Michelle Burbank, right, all of Washington, head for their car with carts loaded with nearly $1,000 worth of Christmas presents they had on layaway at Kmart in Peters Township Wednesday. Once those gifts were loaded into the vehicle, the trio returned for more shopping.
Family members Stephanie Anderson, left, Chiquita Pearson and Michelle Burbank, right, load presents in to their car at Kmart in Peters Township Wednesday.
It may seem like everyone else has their Christmas shopping complete, but the biggest shopping day of the year is yet to come.
“Super Saturday,” the Saturday before Christmas, regularly surpasses Black Friday in sales, said Dr. Audrey Guskey. She is an associate professor of marketing at Duquesne University and follows national and regional retail trends.
A weekend storm was forecasted for the area earlier this week. But Accuweather meteorologists now predict smoother traveling weather.
“At this point, it looks like the storm is mostly going to pass by to the south,” said meteorologist Frank Strait. “There is a chance it will pass off to the south entirely.”
There may be snow, but he is not predicting major accumulation.
Guskey said if the weather dissuades shoppers in any area, the impact would be far-reaching.
“If the weather is bad, that’s going to be a huge hit for retailers, not just for Western Pennsylvania, but across the country.” she said. “Wow, that could be bad.”
She said both annual and holiday sales are down, and retailers are depending on a major shopping day.
“All of November and December is a pretty important time for them,” she said. “It’s make-it-or-break -it time.”
Holiday shopping is critically important because it accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the sector’s $3.2 trillion in annual sales.
The National Retail Federation predicts retail industry sales will increase by 4.1 percent this year. But Guskey thinks the increase will be much lower, at 2.5 percent.
“People just aren’t shopping,” she said. “The economy is definitely impacting everything as far as Christmas shopping goes.”
The economic impact is reflected in a reversal of a trend Guskey called “unbelievable.” This year, people said they will spend the same amount of money or even less money on holiday shopping. Sales over Thanksgiving weekend were down 11 percent.
Guskey advised shoppers to complete last-minute purchases with a plan of who to buy for and how much to spend so the heavy shopping traffic can be traversed.
“Be like Santa,” she said. “Make a list, and check it twice.”