The presents have been opened, the gift wrap tossed away but the shopping continues for bargain hunters.
Some are hoping to bags some deals for themselves, others are getting a head start on next year’s Christmas list on what has been dubbed Black Wednesday. Whatever the reason, Lisa McCracken with the Charleston Town Center Mall says most folks are in for some serious markdowns.
“This is when you get the best deals. You realize you had asked for the red sweater for Christmas. You didn’t get that red sweater. So you might head on down to a specific store to see if they’ve got it,” says McCracken. “Plus if you get a sale price, that just makes the purchase for yourself that much sweeter.”
And there were some sweet deals to be had. The signs at retail stores read 50, 60 even 75-percent off original prices. That’s one reason Brittney Graham from Parkersburg made the drive to Charleston.
“I had some returns. And [I want] to get some sales hopefully. Spend lots of money!”
In fact, McCracken says this is one of the most profitable times of the year for retailers, those first few weeks after Christmas.
“Those sales can continue into the month of January,” says McCracken.
Tracy Dixon of South Charleston arrived at the mall early to pick up some bargains but she says she wasn’t impressed.
“No not really. There were [better sales] before Christmas than now.”
McCracken says it’s still too early to tell the full impact of the holiday shopping season for retailers.
“We’ll see by the end of the week what the total result is for the season. But we feel very strongly here at the Charleston Town Center that it was a very successful and high-traffic holiday season,” according to McCracken.
She adds that this Black Friday was one of their biggest in more than a decade and the weekend before Christmas, the stores were packed.
National numbers out Wednesday say the 2012 holiday shopping season looks dismal. McCracken isn’t convinced that applies to mall. She says it’s wait and see.