Local merchants see mixed tax-free results
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Local retailers are reporting the weekend sales tax holiday produced mixed results.
JC Penney’s Dennis Cockrell said the weekend brought the retailer’s biggest peak for back-to-school shopping.
“We had a lot of traffic,” he said. “We wished it would have been better because it was not quite as good as last year. We definitely did not do as good as last year, but we did have more merchandise this year.”
Cockrell attributed the decrease in sales to the recession.
Karen Lewis at Factory Connection said the store did about $11,000 for the weekend, a figure she said is good for the store.
Madi’s Place owner, Kelly Whisonant, who strategically planned her grand opening for the back-to-school weekend, saw success above and beyond what she imagined, she said.
“It went wonderful,” she said. “It was very busy. It was more than I was anticipating. Everyone has been so supportive.”
In Opp, Peebles Store Manager Kerry Bradley said the store saw a lot of foot traffic.
“We were busy,” she said. “Unfortunately, I do think that a lot of people went to the larger cities, but we were 28 percent over last year.”
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Local merchants saw a lot of traffic, but some didn’t see as much business as 2009. | Courtesy photo