Retailers, Consumers Hope to Cash-in on Final Stretch of Holiday Shopping Season
It's just a week to go until Christmas and holiday shoppers in Montgomery are hitting the stores
It’s go time for gift-givers this holiday season.
And while it’s true online shopping has hurt retail stores, malls like Mongomery’s Eastdale have invested thousands of dollars to lure shoppers back… and they say it’s working.
“Up to this point, it’s been a fantastic season for us here at Eastdale,” said Eastdale Mall’s General Manager David Hagood.
Hagood says they focus on creating an experience shoppers can’t get online.
“We’ve got the carousel, we’ve got Chuck E. Cheese, of course we’ve got Santa and the Eastdale Express our train here as well,” Haygood said. “We try to bring a lot of entertainment aspects to the mall in addition to shopping.”
Shoppers like Jordan Smith of Prattville are taking notice.
“The best thing about the mall is definitely the atmosphere,” said Smith. “You walk in and you see all the families, you see the kids, you have the Santa Claus display in the back, you have all the food that you smell and the different deals.”
And those blowout deals are driving record spending.
Retail experts predict 2017 will see the strongest holiday season sales growth since 2010. The National Retail Federation expects sales to increase up to 4% for a total of $682 billion. Home-related purchases, toys, gifts cards and clothing lead the way.
“I’m coming back to get clothes and shoes for sure,” said Smith.
And coming back for more is what retailers are counting on.
More foot traffic, more sales and more holiday spirit.
“It helps folks here at home,” said Haygood. “We employ at lot of people here in the Montgomery and River Region area, plus it gives you the option to come out and touch it and feel it and find out if it’s going to work for you.”
“It’s just fun to get out and be around people instead of looking at a computer screen all of the time,” said Deatsville shopper Hannah Flowers.
Another key factor helping malls this year – Generation Z. The 13 to 16 year old age group loves to go to the mall. While they get gift ideas from Instagram and YouTube, 81% of Gen Z’ers prefer to shop in traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
