Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
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| Big sales, short drives lure buyers |
Sharon Webb (left) and her daughter, Carrie Webb, both of Meadows of Dan, carry their second load of packages to their car by noon on Friday at Liberty Fair Mall in Martinsville. (Bulletin photos by Mike Wray) |
Sunday, November 29, 2009
By ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer
Shoppers flocked to local stores Friday to take advantage of early sales, short commutes and layaway options.
Several shoppers in area stores said they chose to shop in Martinsville rather than drive to Danville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem or Roanoke. With tight budgets, high unemployment and hectic schedules, they said they were happy to get good deals close to home.
And in some cases, they were willing to get up long before dawn to take advantage of special sales.
Kmart manager Susan Wright said people were lined up outside for two hours Friday morning waiting for the store to open at 6 a.m.
Wright said this year’s day after Thanksgiving business was busier than last year, and sales are expected to be higher than last year’s as well.
According to Darlee Shelton, an employee at Belk in Liberty Fair Mall, lines of people were wrapped around the store before it opened at 4 a.m. on Friday. Sears, JC Penney and Belk all opened at that hour, she said.
There were more people shopping here this year than last year, Shelton said. She speculated that many people decided to stay in town to cut down on driving costs, and added that the sales in the mall also attracted customers.
Shoppers at JoAnn Fabrics in Liberty Fair Mall loaded up carts with craft supplies, yards of fabric and loads of Christmas decorations. In the checkout line, shoppers swapped stories about which stores they had been to, how early they began shopping and what they still had left to do.
Amanda Pearson of Martinsville and her daughter, Sarah, said they found a lot of Christmas supplies in JoAnn fabrics. After loading those purchases into the car, the men and Amanda’s 3-year-old granddaughter, Chloe, were heading to Belk because, “when you get three females together we just have to find bargains,” Amanda Pearson exclaimed.
Mary Kallam of Ridgeway said she chose to do a lot of shopping in the mall because of the low prices she found there. She said many things were 50 or 60 percent off, and the mall stores offered better deals than their competitors elsewhere.
She and her husband, Ben Kallam, saw many people they knew in the mall. Ben Kallam, who was stationed outside Belk while his wife brought him bags to hold onto, also said it was a great place for people-watching.
Mary Kallam said she and her husband also chose not to travel this year so they could support the local economy. “It would be great if the mall here could be this full every day,” Ben Kallam said.
Mary Kallam said her job at CPFilms will be transferred to Missouri in January, and since she does not want to move, she will be looking for work elsewhere. She said that being on a budget this year made Liberty Fair Mall a better choice for her Christmas shopping.
“We’re going home to have turkey sandwiches and pumpkin pie, instead of going to Olive Garden like we normally would,” Mary Kallam said. “But we’ve gotten everything we needed, saved money and supported the local economy.”
Some shoppers decided to use layaway services Friday. Jeff Spaugh, a Kmart employee who had been working in the layaway department since 5:45 a.m., said the department was the busiest he had seen it.
Whitney Rogers of Stuart said she uses layaway every year to shop for her five children. This year she and her niece, Kimberly Rogers, filled up three shopping carts with toys.
“We do this every year, and we always end up needing help to get everything out to the car,” Whitney Rogers said.
Rogers won’t have to worry about that until December. Spaugh placed them in the layaway storage room along with other shoppers’ purchases. He said three shopping carts full of toys was the biggest purchase he had seen placed in layaway.
“With five kids,” Rogers said, “all of this probably won’t even seem like that much once everything has been divided up. But at least we’re done for now.” |
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