Mild weather a boost to post-Christmas shopping
From left, Katey Foley, her mother Laura, sister Morgan and cousin Emily found the weather outside delightful for post-Christmas shopping at Tanger Outlets.
Rick Shrum/Observer-Reporter
Shoppers are shown at Tanger Outlets in December 2015 in this Observer-Reporter file photo.
A happy holiday segued into a Happy Foley Day on Saturday at Tanger Outlets.
“They’re here to spend their gift cards for Christmas – their gift cards and cash,” said Laura Foley of Canonsburg, who strolled four abreast throughout the mall with daughters Katey, 12, and Morgan, 13, and the girls’ cousin from Philadelphia, Emily Foley, 20.
This is not a post-holiday tradition for the Foleys. “We’re usually not out right after Christmas, because of the crowds,” Laura said. “But it’s a nice day to be out.”
Anytime it is in the low 60s in late December, especially at the frequently wind-swept outlets atop South Strabane Township, it is nice to be out. But whether they were at this retail stop that requires a lot of outdoor walking or an enclosed mall, shoppers seemed to proliferate in the region Saturday.
Shoppers were making returns; seeking sales; making returns AND seeking sales; eating; talking; texting; and spending those gift cards.
Although online shopping may have made a dent in sales at brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season, as retail trackers projected, that did not appear to be the case at Tanger. An official there said foot traffic was light initially – stores opened at 9 a.m. – but it was heavy by early afternoon.
Hila Hritz, of Jefferson Hills, regularly contributes to the post-holiday crush there. Make that post-holidays – plural. She traditionally leads a cluster of out-of-town relatives to Tanger on two retail forays the last six weeks of the year.
“We usually come here the day after Christmas and day after Thanksgiving,” she said. “There are five of us. We look for good deals after Christmas.”
Many shoppers like to store-hop on Black Friday and after Christmas. Not Hritz and her clan.
“We just come here. We like the atmosphere.”
Awilda Lopez was among those returning and buying. “I’m exchanging a gift for a different size, but I did find a good deal on a skirt that I bought,” she said.
Lopez, from Washington, D.C., said she had shopped previously at Tanger, but that was years ago. She said she is visiting relatives in the Pittsburgh area.
“I’m not sure where they live. I just follow my GPS,” she said, laughing before scurrying off. Lopez had foot surgery recently and was trying to minimize the trauma.
The thought of hitting the stores the day after the biggest Christian holiday is traumatic for many people. Making returns – or exchanges – can be a sensitive issue, especially if it is a gift from a relative or close friend. Yet, according to the Better Business Bureau, 38 percent of shoppers returned items last holiday season.
Those customers may encounter more rigid return policies from retailers striving to curb the cost of fraud. The National Retail Federation estimates that figure to be about $2.2 billion.
The BBB has five recommendations to ease the return process: know the timetable allowed for a return; keep original packaging; take the receipt: have ID on you; review return policies.
Doreen Smittle of Canonsburg and her daughter-in-law, Michelle Smittle, were exchanging and buying as well. This was a rare retail experience for them.
“We never shop after Christmas,” Doreen said without pause.
“It depends,” Michelle said, hedging a bit.
Michelle, of Greenville S.C., said she shops online “a little bit” – a quantum leap from what her mother-in-law does.
“I don’t even have a computer,” Doreen said.
They were a little like a comedy team, trading witty remarks and smiling often. It was a happy post-holiday for the Smittles, and for numerous others whose vehicles ascended the steep hill from Racetrack Road.