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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 1984)
Thor». 0« 20 1984 (Sec 3) SANOV (O re.) POST— 5 Retailers are optimistic With one weekend left to shop, most Sandy area retailers are optimistic that th is w ill be a good Christmas A good Christmas for store owners naturally translates to plentiful sales, and that seems to be the trend “ I t ’s better than I thought, it looks like about a 20 per cent improvement over last y e a r ,” s a id D uane Youngbar, owner of Mon tgomery Ward in Sandy. Youngbar said sales have been up all year, a fact Kick Stone attributes to a better economy. Stone, manager of Gordon Stone’s in Sandy and presi dent of the Sandy Area Mer chants, said he has not look ed at the figures yet, "b u t it looks like we w ill end up with a good year.” " I never like to make a Christmas prognosis before the figures are in,” he said. Stone said people are more w illing to buy this year than last. “ Last year, noone knew if they would have a job after the firs t of the year,” said Stone. “ I think everyone feels they have better job security this year,” he said. Customers are s till being c o n s e rv a tiv e in som e respects, according to Stone “ They are buying more staple merchandise instead of non necessities, more of the basics,” he said Ward's customers are not quite so conservative this year, said Youngbar. “ People a re spending more, buying the big item s,” he said. Youngbar said popular items include microwaves and v id e o -c a s s e tte recorders. "We are also selling more of the athletic equipment like weight sets and gym sets,” said Youngbar As last year, the Cabbage Patch dolls have been a big s e lle r . O rd e rs fro m September and October are i • now being filled, and S'- .e w ill not be filled before Christmas. “ People are becoming ex ceedingly hostile about Cab bage P a tc h ,” sa id Youngbar He said that even though the demand fa r exceeds the supp’y, there are good points about selling the dolls " I t is one item you don’t have to worry that people w o n ’ t p ic k u p ,” sa id Youngbar Youngbar does not hire ex tra help for the Christmas season, although his part time staff puts in longer hours “ It has been pretty steady, but there have been some re a lly busy days,” said Youngbar While most retailers ex perience slowdowns follow ing Christmas, Youngbar says an appliance sale at Ward’s keeps the store busy through January. Pete Carlson, owner of Carlson Chevrolet, says he e x p e c ts a c t iv it y a ft e r Christmas for other reasons "There w ill only be a few days left in the year for anyone with a business use for a new car to get the in vestment tax cre d it," said Carlson. Carlson said people have bought autos specifically for Christmas presents in the past, but he doesn't think it is a common occurrence. " I don't know of anyone b u y in g ju s t fo r th a t purpose," he said. “ Christmas kind of over shadows the need for a new vehicle,” said Carlson. Carlson said it was more likely that someone would buy himself a car for Xmas. "T h e tax savings fo r businesses that buy now is a p r e t ty good p re s e n t, though,” he said. Shoppers have formed a steady stream among holiday decorations to make this season successful for Sandy retailers. & SCALES STO R E # 0 » * . 4 ? - * < '• ' ~ — c; * - w >- • . ♦. i '• e -« s jej • »- ei- -, .< * - • -■ , X '- ’ c - .••• • ; .. r’ . • ■
