The ball has dropped, the Christmas trees are making their way to the curb, and retailers across Centre County — and the country —are adding up sales from what appears to have been a merry holiday season.
The holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the biggest time of the year for retailers and all signs indicate that this was a good season nationwide. Consumers across the country are expected to have spent more than a trillion dollars over the season, which is a 3.6 to 4 percent increase over last year, according to Deloitte’s holiday survey of retailers.
Stores in Centre County seem to have seen the same trend.
In downtown State College, Beka Platzer said she was busy as a sales associate at Metro up until the Penn State students left for break. The store specializes in clothing for young women, and they see most of their clientele leave when the semester ends.
“We were really busy after Thanksgiving, but it slows down after break starts,” said Platzer. “But overall it was a good, busy holiday season.”
At the Growing Tree toy store, things remained busy right up until Christmas, said manager Lori DeFluri. She said the free parking sponsored by the borough and the Downtown Improvement District in the weeks leading up to the holiday helps people come downtown and shop.
“People love the free parking,” said DeFluri. “We had a year as good as last year, very busy throughout the season.”
At Lions Pride, business was bustling due to the holiday and Penn State’s winning season and Rose Bowl berth. Shoppers have been scooping up Penn State memorabilia in store and online, said assistant sales manager Danielle Stemple.
“Rose Bowl gear, Big Ten Championship stuff, people are excited and want to show their Penn State pride, so sales have been up, online and in store,” said Stemple.
Over at the Nittany Mall, Ashley Salizzoni said foot traffic has been high all season, but she sees how the online sales affect business at Hibbett Sports, where she is an assistant manager.
“We have been busy with people coming in all season, but many are just looking to see what they want to purchase online,” said Salizzoni.
Kason Breon, a manager at Journeys in the mall, said they have had a great holiday season.
“We were busy with steady traffic all season. We hit all of our sales goals,” said Breon.
In Bellefonte, recent improvements to the town helped stores such as Helen Foxx and Co. thrive during the holiday season, said co-owners Joyce Mills and Wendy Hockenberry.
“We had a great first Christmas season, with a lot of support from the community,” said Hockenberry. “Bellefonte is on an upswing, with new stores, new restaurants, newly remodeled buildings opening up, and it is great because it is such a wonderful town. It really helped bring people in and allowed us to have a good holiday season sales wise.”
Down the street, the CO2 boutique has been in Bellefonte for almost seven years, and this holiday season was a good one for the small store specializing in unique accessories.
“We were really busy and steady throughout the season with lots of shoppers coming in, similar in sales to last year,” said Eliza Confer, the daughter of the owner.
Many area stores ended the year on a high note, and hope the good times roll into the new year.
