Although the National Retail Federation expects a 1% decline in holiday sales this year, local retailers are hoping against hope that shoppers load up Santa’s sleigh with a bounty of goods to buoy seasonal revenues of the kind that in 2008 made up 18.5% of total retail sales. “We’re expecting a good holiday season and a better one than last year, which was pretty dismal for most retailers,” says Todd Denton, general manager of the Mall of Louisiana. “Consumer confidence has obviously improved — ’08 was significantly down compared with ’07 across the country due to the financial crisis that was kind of at its peak.” Denton says the mall is planning for large crowds to show up early Friday, when stores open at 6 a.m. Two new retailers there are Apricot Lane Boutique and Voodoo BBQ, while Denton says a Wet Seal clothing store and another eatery are set to open by December.
Monique Hester, marketing director for The Mall at Cortana, hesitated to share hard numbers that the shopping center expects for its 2009 holiday sales. “We even hate to do forecasting,” she says. “It’s just been a very tough economy these days.” At the Towne Center at Cedar Lodge, Stephen Keller, president of Creekstone Companies, which owns the lifestyle center, says he’s optimistic about holiday sales. “We’re looking forward to a good Christmas season,” Keller says. “We think the retailers will be very aggressive with their promotions.” For the full version of this story, click here.—Todd R. Brown
